Uniform admissions, fees for Karnataka varsities

Karnataka will standardise admissions and fees across all universities in the state, Higher Education Minister GT Devegowda announced on Thursday.

Uniform admission procedures and fee structure will be put in place and expert committees will be formed to determine how this can be done, the minister told reporters here.

“We want to take everything online. For admissions, we want to bring in place a system where the student can apply for admission without having to go anywhere,” he said.

“There’s no uniformity in fees. The University of Mysore has one fee structure that isn’t the same as a university situated in Ballari. We will evolve a fee structure that will be uniform for universities in rural and urban areas,” Devegowda said.

The State government is also looking at a uniform examination system. “A Bangalore University student needn’t visit the campus to write an exam. Local test centres will be established with necessary equipment,” the minister said.

In a bid to improve Karnataka’s gross enrolment ratio (GER), Devegowda said all universities in the state had been asked to adopt at least five villages each. “Karnataka has 64 universities, private and public, but none has gone toward villages. Universities can take up awareness drives and work on key causes in villages. This, we hope, will attract students toward higher education,” he said.