No fee reimbursement for second PG courses

Updated on: Friday, July 01, 2011

In a setback to thousands of minority students pursuing a second postgraduation course, the state government has barred them from availing tuition fee reimbursement from this academic year.

The minority welfare department took the decision in view of the mounting financial burden and taking cue from the government's decision to stop fee reimbursement to students of backward castes (BCs) for their second PG course this year.

Mohd Ilyas Rizvi, AP State Minorities Finance Corporation MD & vice-chairman told TOI that students pursuing second PG will not be included in the fee reimbursement scheme launched exclusively for minority students in 2008.

Most of the students pursuing second PG are from humanities and traditional science (Physics, Chemistry and Biology) streams. After completing one PG course, the students preparing for competitive exams prefer to pursue a second PG as they get accommodation and mess facilities in university hostels for another two years. Most of the students pursue second PG in professional courses like MCA and MBA after completing MA and M Sc.

More than 10,000 students register for a second PG every year which entail an amount of Rs 8 to 10 crore on fee reimbursement. The state government was finding it difficult to arrange funds for the scheme as the number of beneficiaries of fee reimbursement at the post-matric level was increasing every year. In the wake of complaints that students pursuing professional courses, particularly engineering, pharmacy and MBA, were forced to pay fee due to delay in releasing funds, the government had sanctioned Rs 104 crore as third and final installments for the academic year 2010-11. APSMFC, the authority to implement the scheme, received over 300 complaints from students that they were not allowed to attend classes due to the delayed reimbursement of fees by the government. The total number of students covered under the fee reimbursement scheme this year is 1.10 lakh .

Times of India

No fee reimbursement for second PG courses

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