HYDERABAD: Intermediate education in government junior colleges in the state has been paralysed with contract lecturers being on strike since February 2 demanding regularisation of their services.
As more than twothirds of the lecturers working in government junior colleges are working on contract basis, the strike by them has affected 1.90 lakh students' preparation for the board examinations which are scheduled from March 3.
As many as 120 government junior colleges out of 820 in the state have only one permanent teacher, i.e principal. The principals of these colleges are finding it difficult to herd the hundreds of students studying in these colleges, leave alone teaching and preparing them for the examinations.
Khammam district has 10 such colleges at Darla, Mangoor, Ashwapuram, Mulkapalli, Bayyaram, Baligellapadu and other places. Vazedu Junior College has 500 students in four groups, but the college had only one regular teacher i.e principal. The 12 contract lecturers working at the college have been on strike since February 2. The Cherla Junior College, which has 800 students, has two permanent lecturers - one in English and one in zoology- and the remaining 17 are contract teachers.
Speaking to Express over phone, a senior MPC student of the college, V Pavan Kalyan, said they had no lecturers to clarify their doubts before the examination and it was affecting their preparation for the board examinations. He even feared that the strike might affect the results of their board examinations as well as Eamcet.
The scenario at degree colleges is no different as 60 of the 250 government degree colleges in the state have been running with a solitary permanent teacher, i.e the principal. There are seven such degree colleges in Nalgonda district.
A firstyear degree student from Chanduru Degree College, S Mamatha, told Express that many of them were not attending the classes as no teacher, except the principal, had been coming to the college.
Contract lecturers went on strike on February 2 demanding regularisation of their services as the state government was gearing up to issue a notification to recruit regular lecturers.
Representatives of the Degree and Junior College Contract Lecturers Association met chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy here on Thursday to press their demand. Reddy told them that a cabinet subcommittee would be set up to solve the issue. Association secretary G Ramana Reddy said there was no way of calling off the strike until the government regularised their service.
Government Junior Lecturers (Permanent) Association general secretary P Madhusudan Reddy said education at the government colleges was affected.