Thiruvananthapuram: A third-year-student from College of Agriculture Vellayani in Thiruvananthapuram has dropped out after being unable to manage the steep fee increase. Before leaving, he recorded a video outside the college, expressing his frustration and helplessness. Arjun, hailing from Thamarassery, has become a symbol of the struggles faced by students in public institutions.
Arjun explained that he was seeking his Transfer Certificate (TC) after realising he could not continue his course with the revised fees, which are unaffordable for many families like his. He questioned the fairness of charging fees comparable to private institutions for students who secure admission in government colleges through high NEET rankings. His video showing the TC is now circulating widely on social media.
Having studied Agriculture at the Vocational Higher Secondary Education (VHSE) level, Arjun applied for the undergraduate course after noticing the fee of ₹15,000 per semester in the notification. With his admission to College of Agriculture Vellayani on merit, he had high hopes. However, upon joining, he found that the semester fee had risen sharply to ₹50,000. Recognising that his family, engaged in ordinary farming, could not afford eight semesters at this rate, Arjun returned to Thamarassery on Friday.
Arjun’s parents, Sathyaraj and Beena, are small-scale farmers who encouraged his higher education in agriculture, reflecting their lifelong connection to the field. Currently, over four hundred students are enrolled in the BSc Agriculture programme across colleges in Thrissur, Thiruvananthapuram, Kasaragod and Wayanad under the Kerala Agricultural University. With the new fee structure, completing all eight semesters of the course would cost a student roughly ₹4 lakh, excluding additional expenses such as hostel fees.
