Sudden fee hike by NIOS irks teachers’ body

SHILLONG: After committing several errors in the results of D.El.Ed exams held in 2015 for the first batch of 2013 thrice, the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), which is an autonomous institution under Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), continues to create problems.
The Meghalaya SSA Schools Association (MSSASA) central body president, Aristotle C. Rymbai, said in a statement on Sunday that one of the problems is about the fees for the examinations to be held in October-November 2017 which the trainees have to pay through demand draft from July 1 to 31. As per the notice published by NIOS at the Directorate of Educational Research and Training, Shillong, it was initially mentioned that the exam fee will be Rs 300 per subject but for no reason, the fee was hiked to Rs 370, which shows that there is no proper planning by NIOS officials.
“We came to know that the employees of NIOS are least bothered about the matter,” Rymbai said.
According to Rymbai, those who had already paid Rs 300 through demand draft in favour of Secretary of NIOS in Guwahati, along with the examination form, are in a dilemma as they have to apply with the demand draft of Rs 370 again.
Rymbai pointed out that the stand of NIOS reflects that this institution has failed to provide D.El.Ed training to teachers in the State in an effective manner and alleged that it is only concerned about earning money from the aggrieved teachers from different categories (SSA, ad hoc, deficit and government) who want to pursue D.El.Ed courses.