IIM-A fee hike move provokes faculty ire

Mon, Mar 31 01:45 AM

A day after the IIM-Ahmedabad's Board of Governors hiked the course fee of its flagship post-graduate diploma programme by almost 300 per cent, the decision has run into rough weather with section of the institute's faculty members opposing the move.

Terming the decision as "distasteful' and "unwarranted", senior faculty members have called for a Government intervention and a fresh look at the fee issue at the earliest. With the Centre's representatives not present in the board meeting that made the unanimous decision on Saturday, the issue might now snowball into a long drawn controversy.

Professor Anil Gupta, who is also involved in the social sector through his two NGOs, said on Sunday that the decision was a case of lack of innovation. "The decision is not in the best interests of the system. I would like to see it as an opportunity to make our education more inclusive, and not more lopsided. Even if the costs are increasing, why pass on the whole burden onto the students? Why not equally tax the corporates that hire from us?" he told media persons.

One way to pay for the increasing costs is to increase the placement fee charged from the corporates coming for head hunting on the campus.

The last time the governing board took up the issue of fee hike in December 2007, it was put off in the face of stiff opposition from the faculty and the Centre's representative.

The opposing section is particularly peeved at the quantum of the hike. "The last time the proposed hike was only for Rs 3 lakh, this time it is over Rs 5 lakh. We had deputed an independent cost accountant to work out the costs of the flagship programme in 2006. It had come to Rs 3.8 lakh per student per annum. Even if this figure is a year old, it does not warrant this kind of hike," said a professor who had opposed the hike earlier.

Informing the unanimous resolution passed by the board on Saturday, IIM-A chairman Vijaypat Singhania had said it was meant to neutralise the increasing costs being borne by the present education system. The board had resolved to charge a fee of Rs 5.50 lakh for the first year of the PGP and Rs 6 lakh for the second year, taking the total fee for the entire course to Rs 11.50 lakh from the existing Rs 4.5-5 lakh.

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