Won’t charge transport and hostel charges, but our budget draws from tuition fee: VC

SRINAGAR: Students from the 2018 and 2019 batches at the Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST), Awantipora have demanded a concession in academic and examination fees from the authorities in view of the prevailing COVID-19 lockdown.
The varsity administration said the students need not to deposit the hostel and transport fees, but will have to deposit the tuition fee from which the university budget was drawn.
A statement issued by the Joint CR Association at IUST, said that valley facing “extreme economic crises” in the face of the prevailing pandemic and lockdown asking the varsity administration to make concessions on both academic as well as examination fees this year.
The students’ association said that they would not submit the examination fees unless the situation returns to normal “as under the prevailing circumstances, there are students who cannot afford telecom charges and right now it is impossible for them to fill up the examination forms”.
They also expressed concern over the mode of examination and evaluation for their promotion to the next semesters under the prevailing circumstances.
“The students don’t want mass promotion, but one with proper evaluation under norms,” the statement read.
The students alleged that in a bid to complete the syllabus, the respective departments were “flooding students with assignments” in the ongoing online classes. “The number of online classes are more than enough and scheduled abnormally that spare no personal time for students,” they said urging varsity authorities not to put extra load on them.
They even threatened a complete boycott complete in case their issues were not addressed immediately.
The aggrieved students further said that they will write to the UGC as to why the IUST had not yet set up a special students’ grievance cell in view of the prevailing pandemic.
Vice Chancellor IUST Awantipora, Prof Mushtaq Ahmad Siddiqui said over the students’ the demand of fee concession that they would not be charging hostel and transport charges from the students for the lockdown period.
But the students will have to deposit their tuition fee as the varsity budget was dependent on the same, Prof Siddiqui said.
As for examination fee, Prof Siddiqui said that the examinations would not be conducted for now and the varsity was focusing on online classes for now.
He further informed that the varsity administration had decided to hold joint semester examinations of odd and even semesters, which however will depend on how the prevailing pandemic and the lockdown pans out.
Over the students’ complaints of burdensome assignments, the VC said that the administration will review the overload in assignments if any.

Irshad Khan