SKMU students threaten stir against B.Ed fees hike

Dumka: The Sido Kanhu Murmu University’s (SKMU) decision to hike B.Ed enrolment fees has triggered widespread anguish among the student community in Dumka. The students association on Monday threatened to launch a stir demanding immediate rollback of the hike. Recently, the varsity announced to raise the enrolment fee from Rs 88,000 to Rs 1.30 lakh besides increasing the annual fee to Rs 65,000 from 44,000.Criticising the move, the Students’ Coordination Committee (SCC), a conglomerate of student bodies, has warned of agitation and the closure of constituent and affiliated colleges offering the B.Ed courses. A delegation from the SCC, led by Shyamdev Hembram, submitted a memorandum to SKMU on Monday. “If this decision is not withdrawn immediately, we will be left with no option but to lock all the B.Ed colleges running under the SKMU and organise sit-in on the respective campuses,” Hembram told TOI.The memorandum did not specify a date for the commencement of the agitation or set a deadline for the reversal of the fee hike. Hembram said, “The B.Ed course was already expensive. Now sudden increase in the fee by such a huge amount is unjust.” He explained that the B.Ed fees was initially Rs 12,000, which was increased to Rs 44,000 and now to Rs 88,000 under the pretext that every B.Ed college have to pay salaries to teachers.“However, many B.Ed colleges continue to face teacher crunch while students kept paying increased fees for years,” the student leader pointed out.