Inter colleges cannot collect more than Rs 1,760 as first year tuition fee: BIE
Hyderabad: In response to a query filed under the RTI by activist Karim Ansari from yourti.com, the Telangana Board of Intermediate Education mentioned that the tuition fee for unaided private and cooperative junior colleges was Rs 1,760 for the first year and Rs 1,940 for the second year. Unaided private and cooperative junior colleges cannot charge more than this amount as tuition fee.
The activist also asked the board to provide a breakdown of fee structure for various courses such as BiPC, MEC and CEC. In response, the board provided the fee structure as issued by the commissioner of intermediate education during the academic year 2012-13. The board said that the private colleges could only charge tuition fee whereas recognition fee of Rs 200 and exam fees were supposed to be forwarded to the board. For aided junior colleges, the fee is Rs 880 and Rs 970 respectively for the first and second years.
The board said in its response that the fee structure was the same for all colleges. Any deviation would be taken care of strictly.
However, some private colleges charging exorbitant fee from students. A student from a college paid Rs 2.5 lakh for one year for an MPC course, which included hostel expenses. His parents have been asking for receipts and a breakdown of the fee structure but in vain.
"The washrooms in the hostel are not up to the mark. The quality of food is not satisfying. I have to motivate my son to bear with it all as the academics are good. I pack tiffins from home on weekends for him. I don't know where that Rs 2.5 lakh is going," said the mother of the student.
An MPC second year student from another college in Dilsukhnagar paid Rs 1 lakh in cash. He too was not provided with receipts.
The range of fee private colleges have been charging is wide, specifically in the lack of fee regulation rules. The TBIE has banned sale of uniforms and study material in college premises. Despite that, a private college in Secunderabad collected Rs 3,500 from the parents in the name of study material. A first-year CEC student paid a Secunderabad college 'tuition fee' of Rs 6,500 including Rs 3,500 for study material. The fee paid for the first year was Rs 25,000 excluding these expenses. The receipt mentioned the amount of Rs 25,000 in figures but 'two thousand five hundred' in words.
As per sources, other private intermediate colleges in Secunderabad have been charging between Rs 16,000 and Rs 30,000 for the CEC course.
