In a relief to students and parents, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) will not increase the tuition fee for any course for academic year 2020-21.
"After consultation with the chairman of the Standing Committee of the IIT Council and directors of IITs, it has been decided that these institutes will not increase the tuition fee for academic year 2020-21 for any course," , HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal "Nishank" said here on Sunday.
"In case of the IIITs, it has been decided that for those which are centrally-funded, the standard 10-per cent hike in the tuition fee for undergraduate programmes will not be implemented this year. I have also requested them not to increase the fee for other courses.
"On similar lines, I have requested the IIITs run in the public-private partnership mode not to increase the tuition fee for the coming academic year for any of their courses," he added.
The HRD Minister had earlier urged private schools to reconsider their annual fee hike given that the Coronavirus lockdown has had an impact on the financial resources of parents. Charging monthly fee or for a quarter combined has been a bone of contention between school managements and parents across the country.
In the meantime, an UGC-appointed panel has recommended that the academic session in universities and higher educational institutions can be started from September instead of July in view of the COVID-19 situation in the country.
Two committees were constituted by the UGC to look into the issues of academic loss and online education in the wake of the lockdown in the country due to the coronavirus pandemic. "One panel has recommended that the academic session be started from September than July.
The second panel has suggested that universities should conduct online exams if they have the infrastructure and means or wait for the lockdown to get over and then decide a date for pen-and-paper examinations," a sources said adding the two reports will now be studied and official guidelines in this regard are expected to be notified by next week.
