Govt to refund admission fees to enrolled college students

Bhubaneswar: A day after the Odisha cabinet approved Gyanodaya Shiksharu Samruddhi scheme offering free education from kindergarten (KG) to postgraduate level, higher education minister Suryabanshi Suraj said students who have already taken admission to govt and govt-aided colleges in the first phase of undergraduate (UG) admissions will receive a full refund of the fees they paid.“Govt will refund admission fees to colleges, which will provide them back to the students,” said the minister.The higher education department has completed the admission to the first round selection under Phase-1 for UG programmes in 1,053 colleges in the state. This includes 53 govt degree colleges and more than 500 govt-aided colleges. Of the 2,87,327 seats, admissions have been completed against 84,820 seats, and fees range between Rs 2,000 and Rs 5,000 per year for general arts, science and commerce courses.His announcement comes a day after the state govt decided to waive admission and tuition fees for students enrolling in govt and govt-aided colleges, a move aimed at improving access to higher education and reducing the financial burden on families.In a related development, the higher education department has put the second round of Phase-1 UG admissions on hold. Officials said the decision was taken to facilitate necessary modifications to the admission process following the implementation of the fee waiver scheme.

Officials said fresh guidelines regarding the resumption of the admission process and the refund mechanism for students admitted in the first phase would be notified shortly.The department is expected to announce revised dates for the second phase of admissions after finalising the operational framework for implementing the fee refund and waiver scheme.