Costly prospectus, high exam fee hit poor students
Costly prospectuses of various universities in Punjab and exorbitant hikes in entrance examination fees over the past few years by various universities in the state are depriving many students of poor sections of the society of higher studies.
The entrance test fee for BSc, MSc and PhD courses of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has been increased from ₹3,600 in 2013 to ₹4,840 at present. Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) is charging a hefty sum of ₹6,000 for graduation programmes and ₹7,000 for master’s and PhD entrance exams compared to ₹3,750 in 2014.
Naivy,17, recently passed his 10+2 and wishes to get enrolled in a university for higher studies. However, higher rates of prospectuses of various universities is a major deterrent to realising his dream.
Facing a similar dilemma, Joban, another school pass-out, says, “Because of the tough competition, one has to apply to several institutes to secure a seat, but enhanced entrance exam fees are making it very difficult for students to apply for more than one institute simultaneously .”
“One has also to travel to faroff places for taking tests, which further adds to the expenses,” says Aman, another school passout.
Punjabi University, Patiala, has decided to charge ₹3,000 for BTech and ₹3,500 for MBA entrance exams. The entrance exam fee for LLB, BSc (Hons) and B Pharmacy of Panjab University, Chandigarh, is ₹2,100.
Harman of the Students for Society (SFS) said, “The universities treat students as consumers and are only concerned with maximiding their income by looting the poor students.”
Ashish Kumar, secretary of the All India Agriculture Students Association (AIASA), said, “Entrance exam fee should not be more than ₹2,000. Students are utterly helpless and forced to spend huge sums of money on the admission process,” he added. What university officials say Justifying the fees, Dr Rajinder Singh Sidhu, registrar Punjab Agricultural University, said, “We have to hire teaching and non-teaching staff for conducting the entrance examination and have to pay them.” Asked about the hefty increase in fees, he said, “I will look into the matter.”
Dr S Prabhakar, registrar, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), said, “Prospectus rate is decided by the academic council. Normally, there is 10% increase in prospectus rate every year.”
› Entrance exam fee should not be more than ₹2,000. Students are helpless and forced to spend huge sums for admission to various universities in Punjab.
ASHISH KUMAR, secretary, All India Agriculture Students Association