Andhra junior colleges warned not to collect excess fees

In the wake of some students and parents complaining about excess fees being collected by private Intermediate colleges in Andhra Pradesh, the state’s regulatory body, the Board of Intermediate Education (BIE), on Thursday warned college managements to refrain and reduce fees by 30% as ordered earlier. “All the private unaided junior colleges are directed to follow the government order dated October 10, wherein the government had reduced 30% of the tuition fees,” said BIE Secretary V Rama Krishna.

This fee deduction order applies for the academic year 2020-21. Similarly, the BIE Secretary has also ordered all the principals of private unaided junior colleges to prominently display the details of tuition fees to be collected category-wise on the bulletin board.  “Any deviation observed later will be viewed seriously and stringent action will be initiated,” he warned. 

On Wednesday, officials raided some private colleges in Vijayawada which were charging up Rs 1.5 lakh per year for the crucial two-year course. They scrutinised the conditions and services provided by these colleges and expressed dissatisfaction. They are contemplating further action against these institutions.

Classes for first year Intermediate students began on January 18 with 30% syllabus reduction in view of the prevailing pandemic.  The admission process was done offline following directions from the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The academic year would continue upto May 2021. 

Education Minister Adimulapu Suresh had also announced that the state government would not enhance Intermediate examination fee. Students can pay the fee as per last year’s structure, like Rs 500 for the first year and Rs 680 for the second year, he had said.

Meanwhile, in the neighbouring state of Telangana, private schools have proposed charging a sanitation fee to prevent coronavirus infection. The school managements have asked that either the parents or the government should bear this cost.