Two years of COVID-19-induced economic downturn have taken a toll on the education sector in Kerala. Besides facing a virtual freeze on funding, colleges have also been feeling the pinch of the financial stress that is prevalent in the society.
The worrying circumstance has compelled the managements to either slash fees, abandon planned hikes or permit students to pay them in instalments.
Several self-financing engineering colleges, which derive a major portion of their profits through management and NRI seats, have been forced to forego government-approved fee hikes to find takers for their seats.
Barring a few ‘premier’ ones, most colleges aligned with Kerala Self-Financing Engineering College Management Association (KSFECMA), a collective of 94 colleges, have been admitting students for an annual tuition fee of ₹75,000 since the last academic year. This is despite they being permitted to collect up to ₹1.24 lakh under the management quota.
“Most colleges have cut salaries by 25% - 30% to tide over the prevailing crisis. We had 120 self-financing colleges nearly five years ago. If the crisis persists, we could see more closures in the near future,” says KSFECMA president Biju Ramesh.
Kerala Catholic Engineering College Management’s Association (KCECMA), comprising 14 engineering colleges, has been ‘deferring’ the payment of 30% of salaries of employees drawing above ₹20,000 since May. Pointing out that while there are been no lay-offs, association president Fr. Mathew Paikatt said it could several months, maybe even two years, for the salaries to be reinstated.
With the pandemic affecting livelihoods, fee collection is also at an ‘all-time low’ with large sections of students defaulting on payments.
CMS College principal Varghese C. Joshua said many families have been in dire straits with the successive lockdowns stifling their incomes. The reverse exodus of non-resident Keralites has also affected several livelihoods.
“Our college could collect only 57% of tuition fees last fiscal year. This was much lower than the 85-90% dues collected on an average annually,” Dr. Joshua said.
The lingering crisis has also begun to show worrying tendencies of students considering dropping out of college.
St. Theresa’s College principal Lizzy Mathew says roughly 30% of its students, including those in their final semesters, are seriously considering discontinuing their courses owing to their difficulty in paying fees.
“The management and the faculty have intervened to ensure there were no drop-outs, particularly among the final-year batches that were close to graduation,” she said.
With the pandemic draining the government of its resources, aided colleges have been facing a delay in disbursal of funds allocated through various infrastructure projects. This has compelled managements to either suspend works or ensure their progress using their own funds.
Many colleges feared for the impact that a third wave of the pandemic could have on the sector. Only a rapid revival of the State economy could prevent scores of colleges from closing down, the college managements felt.
