Private engineering colleges in Bengaluru pushed for a 30 per cent fee hike this year, get snubbed by the education department

After private engineering colleges in Bengaluru pushed for a 30 per cent fee hike this year, the Higher Education Department has convinced them against it. The department agreed to an annual 10 per cent hike from next year, sources from a private engineering college association claimed, but a department official denied any such decision.

Minister for Higher Education Dr CN Ashwath Narayan said on Wednesday that a consensual agreement has been arrived at between the government and private colleges not to hike the fees of engineering courses in private colleges. The minister convened the meeting with private college representatives on Wednesday.

He said that though private colleges had pressed for an increase of 30 per cent in fees, a committee headed by Vice-Chancellor of Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) Prof Karisiddappa recommended a hike of 15-25 per cent. But in view of the COVID situation, representatives of private colleges were convinced not to go for a hike.

The fees in private colleges for students who have secured admission this year under government quota will continue to be at two different slabs of Rs 65,340 and Rs 58,806, the minister said.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Unaided Private Engineering Colleges' Association president Panduranga Shetty said that the department has agreed for an annual 10 per cent hike from next year. But Commissioner of Collegiate Education Pradeep P denied that the department agreed to the 10 per cent hike. A committee will be formed in three months to determine the hike for the next academic year, he said.

The committee headed by Karisiddappa has capped the 'miscellaneous fee' and 'skill fee' at Rs 20,000 each. The minister said that earlier, the miscellaneous fee used to vary from college to college starting from Rs 10,000 up to Rs 70,000.

"Before prescribing the miscellaneous fee, colleges should notify the purposes for which it is being collected and convey it to KEA, Department of Technical Education and VTU. It must also be published on the website," he added.

The skill fee will have three slabs of Rs 10,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000. This will be determined by a VTU team, which will inspect colleges and fix a slap based on the standard of training facilities.

The miscellaneous, skill and admission fees will no longer be remitted to colleges. Instead, they will be remitted at Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) to eliminate the confusions that existed, the minister said.