Chandigarh, July 11
"I got 68 per cent marks in B.A. and wanted to join M.A. (English). Since my parents cannot afford to fund the multifold increase in the tuition fee for higher education — from Rs 385 to Rs 8800 per annum — I have no option but to look for a job instead," says Amanpreet Singh, an ex-student of DAV College, Jalandhar.

His is not an isolated case. Hundreds of others like him have been forced to drop their plans for postgraduate degrees. Costlier college education has forced them to plan their careers afresh.

The result: no college in Amritsar district could get 20 or more new students in any undergraduate class. In Government College, Sathiala, only 12 students, including six who had failed last year, have sought admission in B.A. (part I) against 220 last year. The reason — a steep hike in the admission and tuition fees in colleges. In the case of B.A, the revised fee is Rs 7,300 per annum against Rs 750 earlier. And for B.Sc. students, it has gone up from Rs 900 to Rs 7,800 per annum.

In Punjab, nearly 60,000 boys and girls graduate every year. Of these only one tenth go for postgraduate courses. But this year, this may come down to an all-time low of 5 per cent.

A survey conducted by The Tribune in five districts of Punjab — Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Bathinda and Patiala — has startling revelations to make. Many colleges, especially those which are either government-aided or private, have been contemplating to discontinue some of their postgraduate classes.

Both students and parents allege that the "hike has been unilateral as the government has not promised anything to improve the quality of education, classroom teaching and laboratories."

The worst hit by are girl students, especially those coming from the rural areas. Interestingly, while the demand for M.Com has shown an upward swing, highly publicised job-oriented courses like M.Sc. (information technology) and the Postgraduate Diploma in Computer Applications (PGDCA) have a few takers in Punjab this year.

After the first week of admissions, even after the slashing down of the minimum percentage for admission to M.A. and M.Sc. classes, only 15 to 30 per cent seats have been filled in postgraduate colleges.

In Jalandhar, BD Arya Girls College decided against running the M.A. (English) classes this year as only four students sought admission against 30 seats. In M.A. (Punjabi and political science), the response was slightly better as the college received 10 to 12 applications each, reveals Ms Karanjit Kaur Kanwal, Principal.

Apprehending a steep fall in the number of students opting for postgraduate courses, government-aided and private colleges in Amritsar have decided not to effect any hike in the tuition fee from the new academic session starting later this month.

In Amritsar, Mr M.L. Aeri, Principal of DAV College, and Mr M.S. Dhillon, Principal of Khalsa College, have decried that though the state government wants to collect charges for new disciplines like computers and information technology introduced by the colleges concerned on their own, it does not pay for the salaries of teachers employed to teach these courses.

AB College, Pathankot has obtained an interim injunction from the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the transfer of fee collected from students of uncovered courses.

In Ludhiana, there have been a few takers for admission in MA in Punjabi, Hindi, political science, geography and history. Only five of the 40 seats in Punjabi have been filled at GGN Khalsa College. The situation is no better at Guru Nanak Girls College, Ramgarhia College and Master Tara Singh College.

In Bathinda, the Director of Regional Centre of Punjabi University refused to divulge the details about admissions on the plea that he has been prohibited to do so by the Vice-Chancellor.

There were only four applicants for 14 seats in M.Sc. (IT) at Kamla Lohtia SD College, Ludhiana, where almost all M.Com seats in five colleges of the district were filled.

Elsewhere, the response to postgraduate courses offered by the universities or their regional centres has been lukewarm to good as most of the seats have been filled.