A fee regulating committee was recently established by Bengaluru’s higher education department with the goal of setting prices for professional courses, such as medical, engineering, dental, and Ayush programs, for the 2024–2025 academic year. Judge Srinivas Gowda, a former high court judge, serves as the committee’s chair. Depending on the course under consideration, members of the committee may come from the National Medical Commission, the Dental Council of India, or the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). This committee also includes the principal secretary to the department of higher education, a chartered accountant, and a nominee from the chairperson.
This committee’s main goal is to establish fees that will apply for the following four years, providing stability and certainty for students and educational institutions alike. It’s crucial to remember that any decisions about fees would be taken after the next Lok Sabha elections. There won’t probably be any fee adjustments for universities that are already covered by an annual consensual agreement for the 2024–2025 academic year.
The committee will consider a number of variables while determining fees, including the location and amenities of the college. In light of everyone’s availability, Justice Gowda stated that a meeting with every committee member will be arranged shortly. The office of the committee will be located in the Malleswaram office of the Karnataka Examinations Authority. It has been mandated to give its findings to the government as soon as possible and would function in accordance with Sections 6 and 7 of the Karnataka Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Determination of Fee) Act-2006.
It’s important to keep in mind that a comparable fee regulatory body was established in 2018, but its suggestions were rejected. This emphasizes how difficult and complicated it may be to set professional course costs, and how important it is to give it significant thought and confer with relevant parties.
The members of the admission monitoring committee have also been disclosed, in addition to the fee regulation committee. The vice-chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) or Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), two chairman’s nominees, and the principal secretary round out the membership. Justice B Manohar was appointed as the chairperson in October. The term of this panel is one year.
The higher education department in Bengaluru is making a concentrated effort to resolve important concerns pertaining to professional course costs and admissions, as evidenced by the creation of the fee regulating committee and the nomination of members to the admission monitoring committee. These committees will be extremely important in maintaining stability, fairness, and openness in the educational system, which will be advantageous to both schools and students.
