‘Education is not commodity’: AISA condemns fee hike in Ambedkar University Delhi

NEW DELHI: All India Students Association (AISA) today condemned the exorbitant hike in fees in Ambedkar University Delhi. As per the university’s policy, the fees is hiked 10% every year. The students claimed that the AUD is the “most expensive public university in the country”.

Stating that the hike in fees has been a “long-standing problem in Ambedkar University Delhi, it said: “AUD has justified its unreasonable fee structure by the logic that in its fees framework "the lower slab is not so low.”

The statement was issued after the university published its annual admission brochure for its new cohort of students.

On an average, the postgraduate (PG) courses saw a hike of 6.8% ie. Rs 2,510 to Rs 3,380. Undergraduate (UG) courses have seen a hike of 7.3% with an average Rs 2,270 to Rs 3,900. On the other hand, the MBA courses saw the highest increase of 8% or Rs 13,480 in fees.

ALSO READ | NExT exam will help students ‘focus on practical training’: MAMC head of medical education

“The constant increment in the fee structure alludes to the model of privatisation that is embedded within the very foundation of AUD. The university has time and time again besmirched the name of Babasaheb by way of making the university space inaccessible to students coming from varied socio-economic backgrounds,” AISA said in a statement.

Condemning the anti-student and anti-democratic policy, AISA said: “Access to affordable, public education is a right of every student regardless of the socio-economic conditions that they hail from.”

It further stated that the country’s education system through the introduction of National Education Policy (NEP 2020) has resulted in making education inaccessible to the vast majority of the inhabitants of the country, especially students belonging from marginalised and deprived backgrounds.

It said, “Education is not a commodity. It is not a Privilege. Education is a right and AISA resolves to continue its fight to save public education!”