HYDERABAD: After receiving several complaints from students concerning the collection of full payment of fees in one go, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has directed colleges to not insist on payment of full fees amid pandemic, and instead collect in three or four instalments.
The council also directed the colleges to display the fee payment schedule on the notice board and also communicate the same through email. “AICTE is in continuous receipt of grievances from students regarding insistence by institutes for paying the full year in one go. Upon considering the current state of the country during an ongoing national emergency due to the second wave of Covid-19 outbreak, guidelines are being reissued by the AICTE for strict compliance by all colleges/institutions,” read a release from AICTE.
The council also directed the colleges not to terminate any faculty without enough disciplinary ground and due process of redressal. “Salary and other dues to the faculty/staff members should be released monthly on time. The terminations made during the lockdown, if any, should be withdrawn,” the circular added.
The faculty working in technical colleges, meanwhile, said AICTE should ensure that guidelines are strictly followed by the colleges. “The council has been issuing circulars, but the same is not strictly implemented. During the pandemic, scores of them have been terminated and colleges are not paying salaries. Not many colleges are providing an option to pay fees in multiple instalments,” said A Santosh Kumar, president, Telangana School’s Technical Colleges’ Employees Association.
