For the past few days, the engineering and medical colleges of Tamil Nadu have come under the scanner for collecting exorbitant capitation fees. Parents of the so-called “Aspiring” students have put forward a word of complaint and The Government has created a board to keep a check on all colleges to see to that the fee structure of the colleges is in accordance to the norms established by the government.
Why capitation fees?
When the issue of collecting capitation fees was raised, I was told that according to the Government norms, for students who enter a college through counseling, a maximum of only Rs 40,000 could be paid as tuition fees and another Rs30,000 for transport and other fees. Practically, none of the colleges can sustain with a mere 40000. Every college needs to have a good infrastructure, the most important criteria when it comes to choosing a college. They need to have sufficient classrooms, adequate lab facilities equipped with the latest technology. They need to have enough teaching and non teaching staff, of good caliber and intellect and they have to pay them well. Since most of the colleges are situated away from the city, they need to have buses running all over the city. They have to provide good buses; you need drivers and assistants for that. And then there are lots more, its not a simple task to run an institution. So apart from tuition fees they collect money for transport and development and many other criteria. This is what I was told.
