Protests break out at University of Hyderabad against fee hike

Previously, a fee of Rs 1000 was levied by UoH for an application to the entrance exam. However, even with the CUET, the university demanded Rs 1000 in fees from the students for 'processing applications'.

Hyderabad: Students at the University of Hyderabad (UoH) on Friday protested against the hike in examination fees. The students raised slogans outside the office of the Controller of Examination (CoE) on campus.

Shiva Durga Rao, secretary of the Students Federation of India (SFI) on campus, said that recently, exam fees were hiked from Rs 600 to Rs 4000. The student body had raised the issue with the management, stating that the hike was a burden to many students hailing from marginalised communities. However, Rao states that the administration responded insensitively, saying that nothing can be done.

The problems arose when the UoH entrance exam (like exams for different Central universities across India) was replaced by the Central University Entrance Test (CUET) under the ‘one nation one exam’ program.

MS Education Academy

Previously, a fee of Rs 600 was levied by UoH for an application to the entrance exam. However, even with the CUET, the university demanded Rs 1000 in fees from the students for ‘processing applications’.

Students also found it unfair that the entrance fee to apply for five courses under the integrated I.MA and I.MSc social sciences was increased. An application for the five courses was previously Rs 600 in total. However, the university stated that Rs 600 will be collected for each subject’s entrance test from 2022, adding up to a total of Rs 3000 if the student wished to apply for all five courses.

“There are students from marginalised communities who suddenly are having to pay a total of Rs 4000, if they wish to write the CUET and apply for certain courses,” said Rao.

After the protest, the university agreed that instead of collecting Rs 600 separately for each subject, they will club all science subjects, social science subjects and collect Rs 600 for one group of 5 subjects. This change is yet to be visible in the CE’s Samarth portal, used for registration.

Reports from the university said that security guards were rough with the students when they were peacefully protesting.

“Male security guards were rough with us, even with the female students. There has been no formal word from the administration on any changes. The VC did not address the students and only spoke through the security guards and demanded that we leave the area,” Rao said.

According to the SFI functionary, a rally will soon be organized by various student bodies in the university if no changes are brought about in the near future.

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