Students wait for fee refund from closed European varsity

CHANDIGARH - Twenty-nine students from different towns of Punjab and Haryana are waiting for the refund of their tuition fees, amounting to Rs. 87 lakh, from a Dutch university that was closed in June.

The students had applied for different courses at the European University for Professional Education (EUPE) at The Hague in Holland for the session starting September 2009. Despite paying tuition fees and other charges, EUPE did not give them admission and it was closed in June by the Dutch government.

However, now the victims have a ray of hope, as their counsel D.N. Ganeriwala has returned after talks with the officials of the Dutch education ministry, immigration department, office of the deputy state advocate and the Indian ambassador to Holland.

“We are struggling for the refund of around 147,000 euros, equivalent to Rs. 87 lakhs, which was taken as fees from 29 students of this region. I met various officials of the Dutch government and apprised them about this matter and urged their immediate intervention,” Ganeriwala told reporters here.

“It appeared that Dutch government was aware of the impending danger to the existence of EUPE, yet they allowed students from India to pay the fees. This money was subsequently seized by their ministry of justice,” he said.

“My meetings were very fruitful and their minister of education has promised to convince the public prosecutor, who is responsible for seizing the fees of Indian students. They were hopeful to find some solution by before Sep 1,” Ganeriwala added.

Every year, tens of hundreds of students from Punjab and Haryana go to Europe and America for higher studies.