Students of IIM Calcutta have asked for a fee waiver looking at the current economic status that is not stable and also said they were not sure about job opportunities.
In a letter written to director Anju Seth, the president of the institute’s student council, Hunar Gandhi has written that “The situation of the economy looks very grim and the current and the graduating batches may be adversely affected in terms of future prospects. Many of the students avail hefty student loans while others end up spending their savings from previous jobs for this course. While we are managing personal finances in these difficult times, we cannot afford to be paying the same fees for a different and a lesser experience than we signed up for….
“We want the institute to make it good to us at this critical juncture in our lives. We hereby request you to provide relief in the tuition fee and other charges for various facilities that would not be availed (of) by the students.”
Demands for fee waivers were till now only limited to schools but now, The letter by the IIM student council president also tells how deeply the pandemic has caused problems in the economy.
Director of the Institute also shared the letter, a copy of which she shared with Metro, says among other things: “We know your plans have been altered and you face unforeseen challenges. Your safety is our primary consideration, and we will do our very best to bring students to the IIMC campus at the earliest time with all possible precautions in place…. Given the complexity of the situation and the ever-changing scenario, our plans are necessarily still in flux. Please rest assured that all of us at IIM Calcutta are doing everything possible to facilitate your safe, timely, and successful completion of the MBA program and are devoted to continuing to sustain and grow the excellence of the program in every way possible…. We understand your anxieties and concerns, and hope to provide you with more specifics soon.”
The fee for two year MBA programme is 22 lakhs that is paid over six terms.
The amount is not too much when it is compared with the salaries a large number of fresh graduates get but the students are concerned about how the repayment of their loan as the job opportunities are less.
Classes for the second year were supposed to start on June 6. But students have been home since March because of the lockdown.
Gandhi’s letter says: “As we are past the time of the year when the various batches would usually begin classes, students are getting concerned, impatient, and a bit apprehensive. Student council members have been addressing many of the student queries, however an official update from (the) administration at this point would be much appreciated.”
A larger number of the students in this batch have taken a loan to fund their education.
The fee also includes the hostel charge. A student said if the authorities were not sure about whether students should be allowed to stay in the hostels because of the pandemic, they should waive the hostel charge. Another student said: “Besides, the authorities had fixed the cost of the programme factoring in that this is an on-campus programme. If that were not the case, the fee structure needs to be rationalised.”
A teacher said the concerns that are coming in the students from the fact that a recruiter had in April revoked six job offers to students of the 2020 batch. “Some recruiters have rescinded summer internship offers for the 2021 batch.”
