Engineering colleges in Karnataka seek minimum 10% fee hike

BENGALURU: Engineering education is likely to get costlier in Karnataka, with private college managements seeking a 10% hike in fees at the very least.
Last year, the private colleges had demanded a 30% fee hike and later settled for 8%, as fixed by the fee regulatory committee.
“The private managements are seeking 10% fee hike from the next academic year. The state government is yet to take a call on this. We will deliberate the issue next week,” said BH Anilkumar, additional chief secretary of higher education.
Following last year’s increase, the fee for a government quota seat in unaided colleges was Rs 56,000.Should the government accede to the 10% demand, that would increase to Rs 61,000. The fee in government and aided engineering colleges this year was Rs 19,100, while it was Rs 18,700 for Comedk seats in unaided colleges . Besides, students will have to pay Rs 30,000 as university fee in all categories.
“The fee is going up every year and at this rate it will double in a few years,” said Praveenkumar, managing director of a manufacturing firm whose son is an engineering student at a private college.
Representatives of private engineering colleges said the 10% fee hike demand was minimal. The actual quantum of hike would be decided after a “proper assessment of the financial burden” on them.
MK Panduranga Setty, secretary of Karnataka unaided Private Engineering Colleges’ Association, said private colleges have engaged consulting firm Ernst&Young to assess the cost of education based on which the managements would decide on the quantum of hike. “We’re expecting the report by February 10. We’ll get to know the actual percentage of fee hike needed only after going through it,” said Shetty.
He sought to justify the demand by pointing out that private colleges have come under pressure to hike salaries of their staff in the wake of the government increasing salaries of its employees last year. “Nothing is clear about the fee structure for now. Let us wait for next week’s meeting where negotiations with the government are expected to begin,” said MR Jayaram, treasurer of KUPECA.
Illegal move: Experts
A fee hike in the next academic year would be a violation of norms, said legal experts.
Justice DV Shylendra Kumar, who was the chairman of the fee regulatory committee that decided on an 8% cap fee for the hike last year, said the fee structure fixed in 2018-19 was for three years. “The government will be caught in a legal quagmire if it heeds to the demand of private managements as the move will violate the Karnataka Education (Fee Regulation) Act, according to which the fee structure fixed last year is valid for three years,” he said.
Teachers up against the proposal
About 31,000 of the total 60,000 engineering seats fell vacant last year after the government approved a fee hike of up to 8 %, across 350 engineering colleges in Karnataka, including those under CET and ComedK.
While colleges are attributing the decline to the steadily increasing fee among other reasons, teachers said they are worried as it is proving detrimental to their career.
“Some colleges have claimed fee hike based on the number of teachers and subsequently downsized staff strength. Even last year, only a few colleges increased salaries after the fee hike," said L Ranganath Gowda of All India Private colleges employees Union (Karnataka).