HYDERABAD: Affiliation continues to be a thorn in the flesh for private junior colleges with over 60 such colleges across the state still awaiting clearance from the Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education (TSBIE). As many as 40 of these colleges are in Hyderabad district. Elsewhere in the state, another 42 colleges are also waiting for approval from the board to shift premises.
With no decision on the fate of these colleges forthcoming, it has given college managements another opportunity to allege discrimination at the hands of TSBIE.
Refuting allegations that the government institutions get any leeway in getting affiliations, B Jayaprada, District Intermediate Education Officer (DIEO), said that they too have to abide by the regulation and apply for the affiliation like others. “Since most colleges have single-storeyed buildings, several norms pertaining to certifications and NOC are not required and this makes the process easier and faster,” she said.
A Satyanarayana, secretary, Telangana Residential Institutions Education Society (TRIES) which upgraded 27 schools to Intermediate level, said affiliation process was “a mere formality” as most of them had relatively new buildings and there was no need for structure fitness certificate or corpus fund.
“Unlike private colleges, where a zoology lecturer could teach botany in case of staff crunch, in government institutions the recruitment process is stringent and is done only after proper verification. This simplifies the affiliation process and reduces the need for in-depth verification,” explained Md Abdul Khalik, joint secretary (academic) of TSBIE.
On August 10, a high-level meeting was at which deputy chief minister (education) Kadiam Srihari, IT minister KT Rama Rao and officials of the Intermediate Board and fire department discussed the affiliation issue. Even though a fortnight has elapsed, the board has not received any official communication from the government on the issue.
A TSBIE official said that it was decided that since most colleges had started operations way before the board started demanding various certifications and NOCs, only two aspects _ sufficient number of exit and entry points and fire extinguishers _ would be considered for the Fire NOC. Fire NOC has been the most controversial aspect of the affiliation process this year. “The third criterion _ to allow easy access for fire tenders to enter school premises _ has been done away with and replaced with a declaration from the school management stating that it would be responsible for any fire accident,” reveals the official.
Bandh today by Pvt Jr colleges
Meanwhile, private junior college managements claim that they are disappointed that there is no “positive response or even assurance” from the high-level meeting. Gouri Satish, president of Telangana Private Junior Colleges, said that the discrimination being meted out to private colleges forced them to give a call for bandh on August 27. “The future of 32,000 students of 62 colleges that have not got login is in peril. Already, 890 colleges have been shut down in the state on account of TSBIE’s regulations,”
he said