Members of the Government Junior Lecturers Association and Contract Lecturers Association staged a protest near the office of the commissioner of Intermediate Education here on Monday against the government’s decision to discontinue six paramedical courses from next year.
The state government had issued a GO on May 15 fixing Intermediate as eligibility for admission to the courses.
Government Junior Lecturers Association general secretary P Madhusudan Reddy said the six courses were more in demand than other vocational courses being offered by the board and successful students had better employment prospects and were contributing to better medical care in rural parts of the state.
Contract Junior Lecturers Association general secretary K Suresh said 400 contract lecturers, who were teaching these paramedical students, would lose their jobs if the courses were withdrawn from the coming academic year. Both the government lecturers and contract lecturers demanded continuance of the courses in the best interest of the students and teachers. Later, they submitted a memorandum to officials of the commissionerate of Intermediate Education.
By the GO the government fixed eligibility for taking admission to the six courses as Intermediate BiPC following the recommendations of AP Para Medical Board which said that in the context of increasing complexity of medical technology and the critical role of paramedical technicians in providing quality medical care, the government considered national and international practices before taking the decision. If colleges do not receive sufficient number of applications from BiPC candidates, they can admit candidates who passed Intermediate in MPC group or other Plus Two courses.
The BIE has been offering two-year vocational courses at about 200 of the 814 government junior colleges. Besides, 1,200 private colleges also offer the courses. Of the 30-odd vocational courses offered at junior colleges, six are paramedical — Dental Technician, Dental Hygienist, Medical Lab Technician, Ophthalmic Technician, Multipurpose Health Worker (Female) and Physiotherapist — which the government stopped offering from this year.