Students came in unprecedented numbers to the Auditorium to protest the recent hike in fees. As the debate between the student representatives and the Director carried on amidst the cheers and jeers of the crowd, the English Press Club spoke to some of the protesters to get their opinions on the whole issue.
A fourth-year student complained mostly about the Practice School (PS) fees, having done his PS-II in the last semester. “Though PS-II is not in the summer but during the odd semester months, we pay a summer fee for it. There is also an exorbitant tuition fee that we pay during PS-II. While we don’t mind paying the PS fee, we can’t accept the other two. This protest is also necessary as the incoming batch might end up paying almost 2.5L per semester, which is too much. The dualites who will be in their 5th year next semester will also end up paying almost 1.8L as opposed to 50k per semester which the seniors who suggested BITS to me were paying.”
The Auditorium saw a lot of first years coming to show that they were “united” in this “Sunday Revolution”, as the WhatsApp forwards read. They were, however, divided in their opinions. Many thought that creating cacophony in the Auditorium and on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook was necessary to get the Institute to roll back the fee hike. Others felt that this must remain an internal issue and strongly opposed the tweets and posts online, fearing that it will throw dirt on BITS Pilani’s image. Quite a few were plain misinformed, not knowing that there is no formal announcement yet about fee hike for the continuing students, and that the 1.59L per semester fee is for the 2018 batch.
Another fourth-year student spoke about the quality of faculty in BITS. “The main problem is that the fee doesn’t justify what we are being offered. The faculty isn’t that good. There is a dearth of good professors in many departments. There is also a need for transparency in how the money is being spent.”
A third-year student felt that the debate on stage was deviating from the actual concerns of the students. “The director isn’t answering the questions properly, which is because the questions themselves are wrong. The general BITSian isn’t concerned about the actual fee hike but the quality of education that increased fee must get us. And this quality of education isn’t being offered. This discussion should be about breaking down the numbers and showing us whether the money is being spent in improving the quality of education or not. There is also a need for money being spent to increase the talent in BITS, which isn’t a problem in students but the faculty. Money should go towards this.”
Overall, while perspectives on the issue differed from student to student, the feelings of the majority were encapsulated by a third-year who, much like himself, kept it short and flashy. “It’s stupid versus stupid in this debate, and everybody is losing.”