DU Hikes English PhD Fee by 10 times; Students, Teachers demand rollback

The Department of English, DU has increased the fees for its PhD programme from Rs 1932 (last year) to an unprecedented Rs 23,968. The fees for all other streams for their PhD this year are close to Rs 4400.

Students and teachers of Delhi University are demanding the rollback of PhD fee hike, which has been increased several times this year. In the English Department, the fee has been hiked by 10 times.

The Department of English, DU has increased the fees for its PhD programme from Rs 1932 (last year) to an unprecedented Rs 23,968. The fees for all other streams for their PhD this year are close to Rs 4400. For other Departments also, the fees have been doubled - which is also rather steep. However, the fee hike of the PhD programme in the English Department involves a more than tenfold rise.

Students are demanding its rollback as they have claimed that they were informed of this fee hike very late (this does not figure in the PhD Bulletin) and were asked to pay the fees and take the seat or leave it.
SFI Delhi University condemning the hike in fees of the English department has stated that the decision shows the utter callousness of those behind this decision and the total disregard for those students who might have worked so hard towards getting a coveted seat.

“Rising education costs burden students and hinder accessibility to quality higher education. We strongly oppose the fee hike at Delhi University, for it is a blatant attack on publicly funded education. The move limits opportunities and exacerbates financial stress on students and their families. Education should be a right, not a privilege, and we urge for fair and affordable education for all,” it said in a statement.

Prof Abha Dev Habib, a faculty with the DU says: “A hike of over 1200% is unacceptable and unfortunate. Nothing can explain this kind of inflation. It is unacademic as this fee hike will reduce diversity and adversely impact students.  Scholarships and concessions cannot be a substitute for affordable fees for all. This astronomical fee hike needs to be rolled back immediately. Such an attack on access to education and diversity is against the letter and spirit of the Constitution of India and cannot be allowed to succeed. The students, teachers and non-teaching employees along with parents will unitedly fight to roll back the fee hike.”

SFI has stated that the PhD admission in DU's English Department has seen an enormous increase in the fee since last year. From 2022 when the fee was quite minimal, this year students have had to pay a massive amount of X24000. The students were also asked to pay the amount through a single-day deadline. The move limits opportunities and exacerbates financial stress on students and their families. SFI DU sees this as a step towards the commercialisation of education in a central university. This growing trend of fee hikes can be seen in various campuses in India. Student movement against fee hikes has seen the face of success in JNU and elsewhere through the 'Fee Must Fall' movement over the years. The students of Delhi University too will unite against this injustice. Education should be a right, not a privilege, and we urge for fair and affordable education for all.

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