DU plans fee waiver for SC/ST,EWS

Regarding the modalities that need to worked out before waiving fee for these students,Rai said: “We need to ascertain the nature of financial assistance that the university can provide students,give them financial aid or waive their fee.”

One of the main issues raised by groups of teachers and students opposed to the implementation of the four-year undergraduate programme,is the increase in expenditure on the part of students because of the additional year of study.

To ascertain the background of students who will be exempted from paying tuition fees,the university administration will look at family income certificates that have to be provided by students,Rai said.

Although the amount that a student has to pay the college at the time of admission to an undergraduate course varies across colleges,it is roughly in the Rs 8,000 to Rs 20,000 bracket. Students need to pay more money for courses like computer science,that require the use of laboratories. At Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College,for instance,students seeking admission to BSc (Hons) Computer Science were required to pay Rs 23,220 under the three-year format. The amount was Rs 8,220 for other BSc (H) and BCom (H) courses,and Rs 7,920 for BA (H) English.

However,students are required to pay more than tuition fee. Colleges also charge development fee or maintenance charge from students. “We will speak to colleges about doing away with development fee too,” Rai said.

The waiver in fee for SC/ST and EWS students follows the exemption granted to the physically challenged students last year.