Srinagar, Aug 7 (KNS): Students of Government Degree College (GDC) Bemina on Friday alleged that they were being charged examination fees for papers they were not eligible to appear in and demanded immediate reforms in the examination fee collection system of Cluster University Srinagar.
The students claimed that after internal examination results are declared, the university's online examination portal requires payment of examination fees for all subjects, irrespective of whether a student has qualified to appear in the end-semester examination in those papers.
According to the students, only those who clear the internal assessment in a subject are permitted to sit for the corresponding university examination. However, they alleged that the fee portal does not reflect this eligibility and instead generates fees for all subjects.
"If a fourth-semester student has four subjects and clears only two internal examinations, the student should be required to pay examination fees only for those two eligible papers. Instead, the portal charges fees for all four subjects. Later, when admit cards are issued, students are permitted to appear only in the subjects they have qualified for, despite having paid for every paper," a group of students told PTI.
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The students termed the practice "unfair" and alleged that it imposed an unnecessary financial burden, particularly on those from economically weaker families.
They also questioned the fee charged for the Skill Course, claiming that students are required to pay around ?500 despite being informed that the actual cost of the course is minimal. They alleged that some teachers had privately acknowledged the concern but that no corrective action had been taken.
The students said the issue affected not only regular students but also backlog candidates and future batches unless the fee collection mechanism was revised.
They demanded that the university refund examination fees collected for subjects in which students were not eligible to appear and modify the examination portal so that, after internal results are declared, it generates fees only for the papers a student is eligible to take.
"The examination fee system should be transparent and based on actual eligibility. Students should not be compelled to pay for examinations they are not permitted to sit," they said.(KNS).