At an interaction organized on the initiative of student leaders turned Constituent Assembly (CA) member Gagan Thapa in the capital, they said that the examination fee hike was just unnatural and that TU was forcefully extorting money from the students.
“It is true that there has been hike in the price of paper and other materials to conduct examination,” said Pradip Poudel, President of Nepali Congress-affiliated Nepal Students Union (NSU). “But the hiked amount is just unnatural.”
Poudel said that the TU authorities should have held discussion with stakeholders concerned before taking the decision to hike the fee.
Last month, TU increased examination fee for intermediate level from Rs 180 to Rs 300. Likewise, the examination fee for bachelor’s level was increased from Rs 240 to Rs 400 and the master’s level from Rs 340 to Rs 570. The revised examination fee is applicable for master’s level starting next year.
Officials at the Office of Controller of Examination (OCE) said the fees had remained unchanged for the past seven years and they were compelled to revise the fee to help provide appropriate remuneration to those serving in holding examination.
Some 500,000 students including about 150,000 regular students appear for examinations each year under the TU.
Om Aryal, President of All National Free Students Union (ANNFSU), a sister organization of CPN-ML, said it was unjustifiable on the part of TU to hike fee without bringing new plans. “TU should immediately withdraw the decision to hike examination fee,” he added.
Speaking on the occasion, TU Examination Controller Daya Nanda Bajracharya said they were forced to pay teachers less remuneration for examining answer sheets as compared to higher secondary examination and SLC examination as they (TU) charge less examination fee.
Currently, higher secondary examination board pays teachers Rs 15 and School Leaving Examination Board Rs 12 for checking an answer sheet. However, TU pays teachers only Rs 10.60 per answer sheet. “We are having difficulty in finding teachers to check answer sheets and work as invigilators because of the meager remunerations,” he said.
TU Rector Surya Lal Amatya said they were forced to bear additional financial liability as the government last decided to appoint 1,380 part time teachers on contract basis. “We have not been able to pay their salary for the last six months as the government failed to increase budget allocated to the TU,” he added.
Students leader turned CA member from CPN-UML Rabindra Adhikari said it was time to review the existing fee structure as the fee structure in the TU had not been reviewed for the past one and half decade. “But the decision should be taken after holding discussion with stakeholders concerned,” he said. “It is a duty of all to think about the future of the oldest university in the country.”
Meanwhile, a meeting of the leaders of all students unions and TU officials held to resolve the standoff on Monday afternoon could not arrive at any conclusion. The next meeting is uncertain as Nepali Congress-affiliated Nepal Students Union (NSU) decided not to participate in the meeting unless two of its activists arrested in Siraha were released.
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