Price tags of forms swing wild

The first day of admissions and the first source of confusion. The issue is of the amount that colleges can charge for admission forms. As there is no clarity on the subject, colleges across the city charge different rates for the forms and prospectus. This could range between Rs 20 and Rs 50.

The problem is for students who apply to more than one college and so have to shell out quite a lot. No clear directives on pricing have been issued by the department of education.

Some colleges, however, stick to a minimum amount. According to Usha Mukundan, principal of Jhunjhunwala College, “We charge our students Rs 20 for both the form and prospectus. We get a lot of poor students. We don’t think it is fair to over charge and we want to stick to the rules.” In the same league is National College, Said principal Subhadra Anand, “I called the deputy director’s office and found that they want us to charge Rs 20 for the forms. We are sticking by the rules.”

Most colleges have set on the Rs 50 mark. “By charging Rs 50 it is not as if we are exploiting students. We too need to recover our costs,” commented father Dr Frazer Mascerenhas, principal, St Xavier’s College.

“I went to three colleges today. All of these colleges charged different fees for the form. This difference in price affects students like me who cannot afford very expensive forms,” says Nishit Jain, a student who has scored in his 60s and plans to apply to about seven colleges for the commerce stream.

“This matter is still being discussed. We have jointly written to the department of education to permit colleges to charge up to Rs 40 for the prospectus and up to Rs 10 for the form,” says Naresh Chandra, president of the Principals’ Association.