Student body opposes hike in Teaching Eligibility Test fees

Shimla, July 27

The state committee of the Students Federation of India (SFI) has criticised the state government’s decision for hiking the fees of the Teaching Eligibility Test (TET), demanding the state government to take back the decision.

In a press statement issued here, SFI state secretary Dinit Denta said ever since the Congress government came to power in the state, its attitude towards the education sector had been “indifferent”.

“Recently, the government has doubled the TET fees, attempting to extract money from distressed, frustrated and unemployed students, which clearly reflects the government’s indifferent stance towards students. The government is justifying the fee hike by citing rising costs of paper, stationery, fuel and transportation, which is completely unreasonable,” he added.

He said many applicants were not financially self-sufficient and relied on their parents. Additionally, to become eligible for TET, students had to pay hefty fees for BEd courses, with many having to apply for education loans to fund their studies. Instead of reducing the fees, the government had hiked it from Rs 800 to Rs 1,600, and from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000, which was intolerable, he added.

“The state government has consistently been attacking the education sector through measures such as closing down government schools, handing over residential schools built on government property to private hands under the PPP model, and rapidly implementing student-unfriendly national education policies,” he said.

The SFI warned the state government of launching a mass movement if the decision was not rolled back.