The hike follows the implementation of the CBCS and semester system in all arts,
science and commerce colleges from this year.
The Gujarat University (GU) has raised the exam fee from
Rs 100 to Rs 1,000 per year. The hike follows the implementation of the Choice Based
Credit System (CBCS) and semester system in all arts, science and commerce colleges
from this year.
Earlier, the students were charged Rs 100 per year for the final exams. Now the
GU will charge Rs 500 per semester which means that the students will have to shell
out Rs 1,000 annually as exam fee. Of this, Rs 250 will be charged for the written
exams and Rs 150 for practical, viva and dissertation exams.
The exam fee hike was integrated in the rules and regulations specified when the
CBCS was implemented. The exam fee can be increased by 10-15 per cent annually to
meet the rising costs of conducting examinations.
The Gujarat Technological University has raised the fee to Rs 750 per semester.
Last year, GU has also raised the exam fee of postgraduate courses to Rs 500 semester.
The GU officials said that the fee has been hiked to meet the rising cost of conducting
university exams following the semester system. "Currently, the GU has to shell
out over Rs 3 crore for conducting the final exams. If the exams are taken twice,
the expenditure will rise to seven crore. We cannot meet this huge cost if we do
not charge higher exam fee from the students," said GU officials.
The officials said that they are aware that many students will find the fee hike
unaffordable and hence all vice chancellors of universities have recommended that
the state education department allocate funds towards meeting the examination expenditure.
Meanwhile, while the syndicate members have raised their voice against
the fee hike, the student bodies are likely to take up the issue in a big way and
hold protests.
Courtesy: Times of India
