Students at IIT-Madras have begun protests against a fee hike at the premier institution, which is otherwise largely subsidized by the government. A group of about 500 took out a rally on the leafy campus on Thursday evening to protest against the decision to raise undergraduate tuition fees from Rs 50,000 to Rs 90,000 per annum.
The hike cleared by the IIT governing council was announced earlier this year by Union HRD minister Pallam Raju who said it was necessary to make the IITs financially viable even if they could not be self-sufficient. An IIT spends Rs 2.25 lakh per annum per student, while the capital investment per student would be much higher. This means despite the increase in fees, the IITs collect less than 20% of what they spend on each student.
Academics say a degree from IIT increases the market value of a graduate to a level unparalleled for students passing out of technical institutions. Until very recently, nearly three-fourths of IIT engineering graduates were known to head abroad for higher education or better career prospects.
During a panel discussion on 'Privatization of Higher Education', faculty member of The Institute of Mathematical Sciences Rahul Siddharthan had said, "If the government can keep its promise of providing assistance to anybody who needs it, any idea of fairness suggests that those who can pay should do so."
He added that only those who could afford coaching centres made it to the IITs, though attempts are being made to rework the test pattern. "So, we are already filtering out those who can't afford the coaching. This could be a way to exploit private capital to provide quality education to those who need it," he said.
The students, however, refuse to buy the argument saying that though the government offers a soft loan facility as a solution to meet the fee demand, the loans only end pulling a student into debt. They held placards and shouted slogans demanding a rollback of the fee and non-privatisation of higher education.
IIT students said the argument that the hike is unavoidable because the fee has not been increased for more than a decade should be seen in perspective, considering that the same government gifts huge tax exemptions to corporates. Education should be the last place to recover this money, they said. Deepak Johnson, a student, said, "We stand solidly by the fact that education is not a commodity, the institute is not a market and students are not consumers."
Given the fact that most privately-run professional colleges in India charge more than twice as much for the same course, the argument may find few takers.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/IIT-students-protest-fee-hike-others-wonder-what-fuss-is-about/articleshow/20467802.cms
The hike cleared by the IIT governing council was announced earlier this year by Union HRD minister Pallam Raju who said it was necessary to make the IITs financially viable even if they could not be self-sufficient. An IIT spends Rs 2.25 lakh per annum per student, while the capital investment per student would be much higher. This means despite the increase in fees, the IITs collect less than 20% of what they spend on each student.
Academics say a degree from IIT increases the market value of a graduate to a level unparalleled for students passing out of technical institutions. Until very recently, nearly three-fourths of IIT engineering graduates were known to head abroad for higher education or better career prospects.
During a panel discussion on 'Privatization of Higher Education', faculty member of The Institute of Mathematical Sciences Rahul Siddharthan had said, "If the government can keep its promise of providing assistance to anybody who needs it, any idea of fairness suggests that those who can pay should do so."
He added that only those who could afford coaching centres made it to the IITs, though attempts are being made to rework the test pattern. "So, we are already filtering out those who can't afford the coaching. This could be a way to exploit private capital to provide quality education to those who need it," he said.
The students, however, refuse to buy the argument saying that though the government offers a soft loan facility as a solution to meet the fee demand, the loans only end pulling a student into debt. They held placards and shouted slogans demanding a rollback of the fee and non-privatisation of higher education.
IIT students said the argument that the hike is unavoidable because the fee has not been increased for more than a decade should be seen in perspective, considering that the same government gifts huge tax exemptions to corporates. Education should be the last place to recover this money, they said. Deepak Johnson, a student, said, "We stand solidly by the fact that education is not a commodity, the institute is not a market and students are not consumers."
Given the fact that most privately-run professional colleges in India charge more than twice as much for the same course, the argument may find few takers.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/IIT-students-protest-fee-hike-others-wonder-what-fuss-is-about/articleshow/20467802.cms
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