Fee Hike in Private Professional Institutions in Goa

The government has accepted the report of a state-level fee structure committee constituted under the chairmanship of Mr Justice (Retd) Dr Eurico Santan da Silva and further approved its recommendations for its implementation.

The committee had submitted its report to the government on May 29, 2009, as regards structuring of fees for privately run, unaided professional institutions in the state, for the year 2009-2010.

The committee, for the Padre Conceicao College of Engineering, Verna, had recommended per semester tuition fees of Rs 27,500, Rs 31,000, Rs 35,000 and Rs 39,000 for the four years respectively while it had recommended for Shree Rayeshwar Institute of Engineering and Information Technology, Shiroda, per semester tuition fees of Rs 23,000, Rs 26,000, Rs 29,000 and Rs 32,000, for four years, respectively.

The per semester tuition fees recommended by the panel for Ponda Education Society's College of Pharmacy Education and Research, Ponda were Rs 22,500, Rs 25,000, Rs 27,500 and Rs 30,000 for the four years, respectively while it had recommended for Shri Kamaxidevi Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital, Shiroda, per semester tuition fees of Rs 25,000, Rs 25,000, Rs 25,000 and Rs 25,000, respectively. The fee structure for Agnel Institute of Food Crafts and Culinary Sciences, Verna and Guardian Angel Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Curchorem, for the three-year course is Rs 29,000, Rs 38,000 and Rs 47,000, respectively.

Besides the tuition fees, the committee had also recommended developmental fees, institutional fees, gymkhana/ library fees and even the fees for NRI students.

For the purpose of laying down an appropriate scheme of fee structure, the committee while recommending parameters had said, "As actual date of implementation of revised pay scales is not yet known, it is difficult to estimate the effect of the same on the economics of the operations of the college and as such, instead of finalising fee structure for the batches to be admitted in next 3 years, only the fee structure of batch to be admitted in the year 2009-2010 is considered." The fee structure in respect of batches for the year 2010-2011 is to be decided later, it added.

The committee also recommended that fees would not be uniform throughout the course duration but there would be gradual annual increase. "The fee structure even in case of like institutions (engineering colleges) could vary depending on services/ facilities provided to students and the related financial implications and hence need not be uniform," the committee recommended, further pointing out that the institutions shall strive to develop appropriate infrastructure in order to provide quality technical education to students.