Professional colleges in Telangana will now need to show rankings, student performance for revision of fees

Hyderabad: Professional institutes including engineering colleges wanting to revise their fee structures will now need to submit not just their audit reports but national and international rankings, academic performance of students, and placement records as well.According to a govt order issued by the higher education department on Thursday amending the Telangana Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee (for Professional Courses offered in Private Unaided Professional Institutions) Rules, 2006, weightage will also be given to promotion of research, innovation ecosystem, startups, research publications, and awards, among others. The fee charged by professional colleges in the state is revised once in three years.“We don’t want colleges to turn into degree-issuing factories. Quality of education needs to be a priority. That is why we made these recommendations giving importance to rankings and students’ performance,” said V Balakista Reddy, chairman, Telangana Council of Higher Education (TGCHE).

The GO was issued based on the report submitted by a team headed by Reddy recommending certain revised parameters for fee fixation in respect of private unaided professional institutions.

Other parameters which will now be given weightage for fee revision include the quality of education with a strong internal quality assurance system, student support, progression in terms of attendance, academic performance and placements, implementation of best practices such as facial recognition attendance system, Aadhaar-authenticated system of payments to ensure transparency and accountability of managements, and alignment with the perspective plan for technical education of the govt of Telangana.As per the amended rules, TAFRC has to call for the proposed fee structure from each institution, well in advance, before the date of issue of notification for admission for the academic year along with all the relevant documents and books of accounts for scrutiny.Managements of professional colleges will have to submit a notarised affidavit affirming the accuracy and genuineness of the facts and figures submitted to the TAFRC for the purpose of fee fixation.

Any distortion of facts and figures submitted is liable for penal action as per the relevant acts and rules.“TAFRC will be at liberty to approve or alter the proposed fee for each course to be charged by the institution giving weightage to various factors, provided that it gives the institution an opportunity of being heard before fixing any fee or fees,” the GO read.