TAFRC recommendations draw criticism

Hyderabad: Questions are raised over the recommendations made by the Telangana Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee (TAFRC) in fixing special fees for the professional courses being offered by the Private unaided institutions in the State for the academic years 2019-20 to 2021-22.

It may be mentioned here that the State Higher Education Department (THED) issued a government order approving the fees fixed by the TAFRC.

The TAFRC classified institutions in the State into three categories for fixing the fee. Firstly, the 80 colleges, who had approached the High Court, and secondly 23 more colleges for which fee is recommended by the TAFRC.

The third category is 88 colleges for which the TAFRC had tentatively fixed 20 per cent increase in the existing fee for the colleges who have claimed less than Rs 50,000 per year.

Also, 15 per cent hike over the existing fee to those colleges who had claimed more than Rs 50,000 per year.

Taking exception to this, the Telangana Parents Association (TPA) said the committee has not interacted with the parents who are stakeholders in fixing the fee.

What turned objectionable to the parents is that the Committee has classified colleges, who had gone to the court, as special category in the fixing of the fee.

At the same time, it had neither called nor given time to the representatives of the parents' associations who had gone to the court on the same issue.

Another bone of contention was that the TAFRC fixed an extra amount of Rs 3,000 per year to be paid by the students over and above the tuition fee fixed for such courses which were given accreditation by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) in any college.

Every year the students will have to pay the extra amount as long as such accreditation subsists for such courses in that college.

For example, the NBA accreditation process guidelines prescribe evaluation of the accessibility of the computer lab, library, qualifications of the teaching staff, placement activities and a host of other things.

When once students paid fee on the basis of accreditation, then why they have to pay the fee again on account of the same head figured in the students related special services remained a million-dollar question for the parents.

Speaking to The Hans India, sources in the TSHED said there is an overlap in the fee being collected twice on account of the same item fixed by the TAFRC under the 'students related special services' and 'common services rendered by the universities to the colleges.