The New Indian Express ·
Fourfold hike in tuition fee aid for SC/ST students in private colleges in TN
COIMBATORE: After a gap of 15 years, the Social Justice department has revised the annual tuition fee assistance for SC/ST students studying in self-financing arts and science colleges in TN, raising it by nearly fourfold. The updated aid applies to students with an annual family income of less than Rs 2.5 lakh.
As per a communication from the Social Justice department, the tuition fee for BSc, BCom and BCom (Hons), which was fixed at Rs 2,850 in 2011-12, has now been revised to Rs 11,250 per year in such colleges. Similarly, the tuition fee for MA, which was Rs 1,350, and MCom and MSc, which was Rs 2,850, has been revised to Rs 12,000 per annum.
The tuition fee for BA, which was Rs 1,350, and BBA, which was Rs 4,750, has also been revised to Rs 11,250 per year. The department has also fixed the tuition fee assistance for newly added undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) courses from this academic year.
In a recent letter to the directors of the Social Justice department, its secretary N Subbaiyan stated that tuition fee assistance is being offered to SC/ST students studying in self-financing colleges under the central government’s scholarship scheme.
“As self-financing colleges have hiked their tuition fee, it has come to light that SC/ST students are facing financial difficulties and are unable to continue their college education. The revised tuition fee assistance should be given to SC/ST students whose annual family income is below Rs 2.5 lakh,” the letter, a copy of which is with TNIE, said.
The department will also be providing annual tuition fee assistance of Rs 11,250 for 11 new UG courses such as BCA, BMS and others from this academic year. Similarly, Rs 12,000 will be given for 10 new PG courses, including MSW and MIB, and other vocational courses. In addition, Rs 10,000 will be provided to PhD students, as per the letter.
Welcoming the move, S Selvakumar of the Tamil Nadu State Commission for SC/ST said, “For a decade, we have been demanding a revision of the tuition fee assistance, which is very low for SC/ST students in arts and science colleges. The previous governments failed to do this. We appealed to the current government for the same demand and it revised the aid, which will benefit several students.”
He also urged educational institutions to collect only the tuition fee fixed by the government from the students and not to collect any extra charges. He demanded that district-level officers of the department monitor compliance.
A top officer from the Social Justice department told TNIE that the fee revision, recommended by the fixation committee, takes effect this year and applies to all newly joined first-year students. He said that around 80,000 students would benefit in colleges across the state. “Colleges have been asked to update student details and fee information on the UMIS (University Management Information System) portal to execute this,” he added.