JNU has urged PhD end-year students to pay the tuition fees for the extra semester they have been granted to finalise and submit their theses which is earlier halted by the pandemic-induced closure of universities.
A section of PhD students said that they have opposed the university’s decision to extract fees from them over a problem they were not responsible for. However, the authorities of JNU had not responded to the students.
On the other hand, leading central universities such as Pondicherry University, Hyderabad University, Jamia Millia Islamia and Delhi University are not charging any tuition fees for the extra six months.
While a PhD is a four-year programme, the students can be given an extra year if necessary. The fourth and fifth-year PhD students were to submit their theses by June this year.
As per sources, most of the students had almost their work when the pandemic struck and closed the institutions.
However, due to the closure of libraries, many students were deprived of the opportunity to use reference materials or cross-check data and preventing them from submitting their theses.
Previously, UGC urged all universities to give an extra six months for research work to students who were unable to submit their theses because of the lockdown.
Read More: JNU and TechGig sign MoU to facilitate online academic assessments
Students’ Reaction to JNU’s Action Over Tuition Fees
JNU issued a notification on Tuesday which stated that the research students would need to undergo provisional registration for the extra six months. However, the notice did not mention any fee waiver or relaxation.
An official from the JNU administration confirmed that the students would have to pay the tuition fee to secure a provisional registration. The tuition fee per semester is Rs 187 for Indian students and $600 (about Rs 44,000) for foreign students.
Following which, students expressed their concerns about the situation and highlighted that the decision is not fair.
“This decision to charge a fee is wrong since the delay in submitting the thesis was because of the lockdown and pandemic. The students should not be penalised for no fault of theirs,” said Arnika Ahldag, a foreign student at JNU’s School of Arts and Aesthetics who was in the fifth year in the 2019-20 academic session.
While another foreign student described the fee of $600 as “a huge burden.”
One of the officials of the varsity has informed that the deans of the schools and some of the chairpersons of the centres at the university had discussed the matter but the authorities were against any fee relaxation.
An email sent to vice-chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar on Wednesday has also remained unanswered.
The extra six-month period for research students is to end on December 31, yet it remains unclear when the universities and their libraries will open.
Read More: JNU Students’ Union Protests on Campus, Puts forth various Demands
.jpeg?tr=h-127,w-254,c-force)
.jpeg?tr=h-127,w-254,c-force)
.jpeg?tr=h-127,w-254,c-force)
Comments