Over the last few days, student groups and the Students’ Council of Pondicherry University have been protesting against the administration’s demand for examination fees despite the exams being cancelled. The administration’s latest circular asks students to pay up their examination fees within the prescribed time and reiterates that there is no scope for a waiver.
In its circular, the administration says that all formalities for writing examinations like registration, payment of fees, minimum attendance etc is a must for assessment within the prescribed time limit. And that there will be no waiver of examination fees. Students are expected to register and make the payment. The students claim that the University had no right to ask the students fees for an exam it wasn’t even going to conduct.
When we got in touch with the Controller of Examinations at Puducherry University, he told us that the University is going to stick by its decision. “The preparations for these exams start six months in advance, for this semester we start preparing from the previous semester itself. So we have already spent a huge amount of money on printing, setting the paper and all other processes. Now because of the situation, the exams have been postponed and evaluation will not take place but we have already incurred a lot of expenses, which is why the students need to pay the fees,” he explained.
The students of the Department of Mass Communication at the University have decided to not pay their examination fees this semester, “We do this to voice our solidarity with our fellow students who can’t afford to pay the exam fee and on the principle that without exams, the university has no right to demand any examination fee from students. Today, livelihoods have been lost and people are struggling to buy basic necessities because of the circumstances around,” the students said in a statement.
They also went on to add that as a department, the students stand united against this ‘insensitive and baseless demand’. “However, this fight will only reach its goal if all of those who haven’t paid their fees yet don’t pay it by tomorrow, which is the deadline (On Tuesday, the administration postponed the last date to July 10), and decide to join in large numbers,” the students wrote. They also called for other departments and students to take a similar stand. The students are demanding that the University withdraw the demand for fees and also refund the students who have already paid.
