Don't charge full fees at once: AICTE to institutions

NEW DELHI: Given the ongoing second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the technical education regulator, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has asked institutions not to force students to pay the full fee in one go until normalcy is restored. It has also asked institutions to withdraw the termination of faculty members done during the lockdown period.

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has received several complaints from teachers and non-teaching staff regarding termination of services, non-payment of salary and similar charges against their colleges. Many students have also written to the AICTE regarding insistence by institutes for paying full year OR full term fees.

AICTE has issued a set of guidelines to be strictly followed by all colleges and technical institutions. As per the AICTE, “Institutions or colleges should not insist on payment of full fees and collect in three-four instalments till normalcy is restored.”

It has also asked all the colleges to display information regarding fee payment on their websites and also communicate the same to students through emails. AICTE had issued similar guidelines last year as well.

Instructions to Institutes/Colleges during #Lockdown/on-going #pandemic #COVID19#Guidelines for compliance:

1.Payment of #Fees
2.Payment of #salary to faculty
3.Discouraging #FakeNews
4.Sharing of #Internet bandwidth with other colg./inst.

?https://t.co/cUJTzABpin#AICTEdge pic.twitter.com/ju3Ol6KRwG

— AICTE (@AICTE_INDIA) May 6, 2021

The council has also instructed institutions to not terminate services of any faculty member without enough disciplinary ground and due process of redressal. AICTE circular reads: “Salary and other dues to the faculty/staff members be released monthly on time and also terminations, if any, made during the lockdown be withdrawn. This is to be compiled [with] strictly.”

The AICTE has also asked the institution to inform its faculty members and students to not fall prey to fake news and information circulating on social media platforms. “It is advised that any information published on the official website of MoE/UGC/AICTE only may be relied upon. Hence, these websites may be regularly perused for any updates,” the AICTE circular says.

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