The Gujarat government has constituted a six-member committee to review the annual fees charged by self-financed Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed) colleges across the state, beginning a reassessment of rates that have remained unchanged for two decades.
The committee, chaired by Milind Torawane, additional chief secretary in the education department, has been asked to submit its recommendations within 30 days. The review follows a proposal from the director of primary education to reconsider the existing fee structure.
Annual fees at self-financed D.El.Ed institutions in Gujarat were fixed at Rs 20,000 in 2006, based on the recommendations of a committee headed by retired Justice R J Shah. The new panel will examine whether the existing amount reflects the cost of running teacher-training institutions and recommend a revised structure, if required.
What will the committee examine?
The panel will review fees charged by recognised self-financed D.El.Ed institutions, including expenditure on teaching and non-teaching staff salaries, administrative costs, laboratories, libraries and building maintenance.
It will examine institutions’ financial records and recurring operating expenses, along with projected expenditure for the next three academic years. The recommendations are expected to account for the actual cost of providing education while following the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) regulations governing fees at unaided teacher-education institutions.
The committee includes Rajeshkumar Modi, finance adviser for education; the director of primary education; institutional finance and cost-accountancy expert Prakash Trivedi; economics expert Tarak Shah; and Arjunsinh Chavda, representing private D.El.Ed college managements.
Why are D.El.Ed fees being reviewed now?
The annual fee of Rs 20,000 has remained in place since 2006, despite changes in operating costs over the intervening years. The review will allow the government to assess whether the existing fee is sufficient to meet institutions’ expenditure on staff, facilities and administration.
However, the formation of the committee does not mean that fees will automatically increase. The panel must first assess financial records and projected costs before recommending any changes.
The review also has to balance the operating requirements of private teacher-training institutions with the need to keep teacher education accessible to students.
What rules govern fees at teacher-training colleges?
The committee has been constituted under the NCTE (Guidelines for Regulation of Tuition Fees and Other Fees Chargeable by Unaided Teacher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2002, as amended in 2010.
These regulations provide the framework for examining fees charged by unaided teacher-education institutions. The Gujarat panel’s task is to assess the costs of running D.El.Ed colleges and recommend an appropriate fee structure within that framework.
What happens next?
The committee has 30 days to submit its recommendations. It will examine institutional accounts, current operating expenses and anticipated costs for the coming three academic years before proposing any revision.
Until the government considers and acts on the recommendations, the existing annual fee of Rs 20,000 remains the stated fee benchmark. The state has not announced a revised fee or a date from which any new rates would apply.