Crucial Meeting Te Decide On CETs

Mohammed Younus/ Hyderabad: Telangana Higher Education Council has called a meeting next week to decide the modalities for conducting the common entrance tests for the state on its own, official sources said on Friday. 

The meeting was scheduled to be held early this month, but got postponed for due to continuous holidays. As the dates of notification for the conduct of various CETs nearing, the pressure over the state government especially on the State Higher Education Council is building up. The meeting would discuss the conduct of ICET, ECET, PGECET, EdCET, EAMCET and Law CET and may possibly take a decision to conduct these tests separately for the state of Telangana. According to TSCHE chairman T Papi Reddy, next week all the concerned officials including secretary of higher education along with education minister would sit to discuss the issue with council members.

About Eamcet, he said that the stance of Telangana government was clear and is in accordance with the Reorganization Act. “The section 75 of the Reorganization Act clearly says that successor state of Telangana has all rights to conduct the examination on its own and our stand is the same,” he added. He said that though the AP government was continuously making statements on conducting the Eamcet commonly for both the states, nothing had happened in this regard. He said that the Telangana government has decided to conduct all the examinations under its jurisdiction without causing difficulty to the students.

In Search Of Better Talent- TSPSC To Adopt UPSC Pattern

Mohammed Younus/ Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s dream of establishing Bangaru Telangana with a strong administrative set-up is likely to encourage Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) to adopt the Union Public Service Commission’s strong recruitment policy.

"Controversial part of the UPSC examination pattern such as the CSAT and other elements will not be adopted in the recruitment process. An advisory committee will also be formed to decide on the modalities of the commission in adopting new methods of function including examination pattern reforms"

Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) officials hinted at adopting the examination pattern similar to UPSC for selecting the best candidates in government posts. Though the basic frame work of the examination pattern is similar, a major difference is the presence of negative marking in UPSC examinations. The recently appointed chairman and other members, however, are yet to finalise the modalities. The examinations conducted by state public service commission differ according to the post and category of posts. For Group I, the pattern of examination is similar to that of UPSC. All the examinations for Group I posts are conducted in three stages which include Preliminary, Mains and Interview.

However, there would not be negative marking and aptitude test in any of the stages. For Group II and Group IV category, examinations are conducted in two stages, which include Written Test and document verification or interview. TSPSC chairman Ghanta Chakrapani said that the basic agenda before the commission was to recruit the best candidates. He said, “We will adopt the best practices to suit our needs and also benefit us in making the selection process more transparent.”

He said that controversial part of the UPSC examination pattern such as CSAT and others would not be adopted in the recruitment process. “We would like to recruit highly competent candidates through TSPSC as they have to serve the state for 30 years, he said and added that no time frame has been finalised for bringing in these reforms. TSPSC officials have also informed that an advisory committee would be formed to decide on the modalities of commission in adopting new methods of function including examination pattern reforms.

Present Pattern of State Examinations
Group I
Preliminary Examination(Objective Type)- 150 Marks
Mains Examination (Conventional type)Interview/Oral Test - 750 Marks

Group II
Written Test (Objective type)- 450 Marks
Interview/ Document Verification

Group IV
Written Examination (Objective type)- 150 Marks
Document Verification

New Vice Chancellors For Universities

Mohammed Younus / Hyderabad : All universities in Telangana would soon get a permanent vice-chancellor if the State government has its way. Most probably, the task of appointing vice chancellors would be completed by mid-January next year. According to the government sources, necessary arrangements for the formation of search committees for selecting the permanent vice chancellors have been completed.

Universities require a search committee that comprises of a state government nominee, university nominee and UGC nominee. Government sources reveal that since UGC has recently completed the nomination of candidates, the way has been cleared for the formation of search committees. Out of the nine state run universities, only two are having permanent vice chancellors. Meanwhile, staff of the universities across the State continues to cry foul over the malfunctioning of varsities due to lack of vice chancellors for a long time.

As per the standard procedure, nomination is done at the first stage and then search committees are formed. Later, a notification is released by the universities. The search committees then scrutinise the applications and suggest three names to the State government. The search committee of each university suggests three names that are sent to the Governor for final approval. Telangana State Federation of University Teacher’s Associations (TSFUTA) chairman B Satyanaryana said the State Education Minister, G Jagadish Reddy, assured that search committees for each university would be formed very soon.

He also assured that the process of appointing VCs would be completed by mid-January next year. The minister also assured to increase the grants for universities which are in financial crises and facing troubles in raising salaries for the staff.

Standard Procedure of Appointment
•Nomination of candidates from UGC, State government and universities
•Formation of Search Committees for each university
•Release of notification by all the universities
•Assessment of candidates applied for the post
•Search committees suggest three names to the government
•State government sends the list of candidates to the Governor for approval

Universities without VCs
Osmania University – Hyderabad
Kakatiya University -Warangal
JNTU- Hyderabad
Dr B R A O U- Hyderabad
Palamur University-Mahabubnagar
Telangana University-Nizamabad
Prof Jayashankar Agricultural University
Universities having VC
Mahatma Gandhi University
-Nalgonda
Satavahana University-Karimnagar

B Ed Duration To Be Increased

Mohammed Younus / Hyderabad : Students aspiring to select teaching as their career would now have to spend an extra year mastering the advanced techniques of this unique profession as the duration of the Bachelor of Education (B Ed) course is all set to be raised by one year from the 2015-16 academic year. National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) is all set to make some sweeping changes by increasing the duration of BEd from one year to two years, apart from initiating some major changes to the curriculum. 

The proposals are aimed at improving the quality of teacher education. As part of the proposed reforms in the entire higher education system in the country, the central government has already proposed several changes in teacher education. The eligibility to apply for B Ed would remain the same wherein a candidate needs to complete a three-year undergraduate course. With this, one has to study for five years to become a teacher (3 years of graduation and 2 years of B Ed). Experts feel that a change in the duration of the course and curriculum would give professional edge to aspirants, similar to other professional courses like BE (four years), MBBS (five-and-a-half years) and CA (five- years).

This change also comes with some strict norms wherein students would have to complete BEd within three years from the date of admission and also have an attendance of 80%. The proposal was put forth earlier during a meeting of vice-chancellors conducted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). It was also communicated to the universities that a framework to formulate the syllabus would be sent to them very soon. The reforms would include strict norms for colleges providing teacher education studies. Only those colleges having required infrastructure and facilities would be permitted to increase the intake of students.

In the first phase, these changes would be adopted by a few universities from the next academic year and later other varsities would implement it from 2016-17. The framework of syllabus would be decided after convening a meeting with eminent educationists to discuss the current curriculum and possibilities of bringing changes on a par with international standards.

TSPSC To Have a Completely New Orientation

The Telangana Public Service Commission will have a new orientation, with reference to Telangana and to the decades long movement for separate state. It is also aiming at hassle free recruitment procedure unlike in the past. 

The new approach would include changes in recruitment procedure, examination pattern and more importantly in the syllabus. These changes are contemplated to make the commission compatible to face the needs of Telangana state. The first notification by the newly constituted body would be released by the January end next year.

"The new syllabus will have all the elements pertaining to Telangana because once a person is recruited through TSPSC he would remain in government services for 30 years in Telangana,
The newly appointed members of Telangana State Public Service Commission, including chairman Ghanta Chakrapani, with Governor ESL Narasimhan at Raj Bhavan in the city on Saturday."

The syllabus would be changed for all the categories including Group 1, 2, 3 and 4 accordingly after discussing it with experts’ panel. The panel of educationists and experts would suggest the needed changes.
TSPSC chairman Ghanta Chakrapani said, “We cannot continue with the present syllabus since it did not have any relation with Telangana’s culture and history and the recruited have to work in Telangana and need to know them.”

The new syllabus will have all the elements pertaining to Telangana because once a person is recruited through TSPSC he would remain in government services for 30 years in Telangana, he added.

However he hoped that the first notification of recruitment would be released by the end of January next year. The other changes would be in the procedure of selection and examination pattern.An advisory committee would be formed with the permission of government to prepare a framework to look after the papers and their secrecy. “We would definitely see that confidentiality is maintained,” he said.

Policy decisions regarding the age limit, number of attempts and other matters would be taken by the state government. He said that the commission would work as a transparent recruiting agency for the government.

Chairman however warned, “We don’t want any private party to exploit the situation by announcing syllabus changes but the commission itself would announce it officially.” Member of the commission C Vithal said that if needed they would form an academic cell as per the provisions of Re Organization Act in the future. He said that the functioning of TSPSC would not be same like erstwhile APPSC’s.

He said, “Unlike APPSC the Telangana commission would release the notification in a phased manner and section wise to facilitate the students to choose the exams properly.”

Hyderabad Pays Tribute to the Martyrs of Peshawar

Schools across Telangana paid tributes to the children killed in the terrorist attack in Pakistan’s Peshawar city. Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call, students in government-run and private schools in both the Telugu-speaking States observed two-minute silence in memory of the children killed at an army-run school. On Wednesday, students of All Saint’s High School in Gunfoudry and Safdaria Government School in Mehdipatnam prayed for the massacred students and observed two-minute silence, while other schools like Amma Concept School and Lotus Lap School took rallies condemning the attack. 

Police commissioner M Mahender Reddy said the force would draw up guidelines for security of city schools in the wake of the massacre in Peshawar

Students raised slogans against the barbaric act of the terrorists. Hundreds of children from other schools too organised peace programmes against the attack. They said that there was a need for collective effort to save children and to put an end to terrorism. Sharing their sorrow, employees in some government offices also observed silence and prayed for the victims. Offering condolences to the families of victims, student groups ABVP, SFI, PDSU, SIO and NSUI condemned the killing of innocent school students. They said that the attack was like attacking the whole humanity and wanted zero tolerance against such armed groups in any country.

The attack left over 148 dead, including 139 school children, and several badly injured. The barbaric act of terrorists has left the Indian subcontinent completely shocked. Meanwhile, police commissioner M Mahender Reddy said it had plans to draw up guidelines on the safety and security of city school students in the wake of the massacre in Peshawar. “We will come up with certain protocols through the education department and definitely look at the safety and security of students,” he said. When told that parents and managements of some schools are keen to see police imparting security tips to children as a precautionary measure, he said, “...Definitely we will think about it.”

On reported terror alert for Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad ahead of US President Barack Obama's visit next month, Reddy said, “It is a general alert and not a specific alert issued by the central security agencies to Hyderabad.” “We are taking all possible precautionary measures. We are confident that we would be able to ensure the safety and security of citizens,” he added.

Telangana Students On FAST !

While the state government is busy finalizing modalities for financial assistance to students of Telangana (FAST), the High Court’s directive asking it to spell out the sanctity of its proposal for making 1956 as the cut-off year for considering nativity, has left students confused. The confusion over the smooth implementation of FAST scheme has again prevailed among the students and parents after the fresh development. 

The Telangana government has introduced this scheme with an intention to assist students belonging to the state financially, but the proposed criterion has left several students unhappy. The High Court has asked the State government to file its reply within three weeks. One of the proposed conditions was that students needed to present proof of their parents’ origin in Telangana region before 1956. This proposal drew flak from several quarters of society, including students and political leaders. 

A under graduate student Syed Jaffer said that he was expecting this scheme to be less complicated and easy, but it proved out to be confusing. He said, “I am not sure whether I can be benefit from this scheme.” This has created a lot of confusion among the student community and most of the poor students were continuing their studies without any financial assistance from state government, he added. Another student K Satyanaryana whose father was from Rayalaseema region said that it would deprive students like him for no reason, though born and brought up in Telangana. 

He said, “I was born in Telangana and will remain local as per the constitutional provisions and cannot be considered non-local just because my parents don’t belong to Telangana.” Interestingly, this directive of the Court could possibly worry the state government more than any one. Any change in the proposed 1956 benchmark would change the shape of the whole scheme as TS government wanted to filter out families that moved in to Telangana, especially Hyderabad from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions. 

Sources in the government revealed that a meeting could be conducted with the Education Minister, Chief Secretary and other officials concerned soon to take a final call on the issue. It is to be remembered that some education experts from Telangana had suggested putting 1975 as the benchmark, instead of 1956. They opined that 1975 could be more reasonable and rational for any such scheme from the state government.

KG to PG Education Plan Ready

Giving impetus to education in the state, the Telangana government has decided to establish ‘KG-to-PG Free Education Institutions’ in all 119 Assembly constituencies in the state. The government has readied its plan to start implementation of this scheme by next year in a phased manner. The preliminary proposal for this popular scheme includes 15 acre of land for each campus, encompassing hostels and other facilities. According to the proposals, each Assembly constituency would have a similar kind of institution across the state.

Officials said that school dropouts will be given preference in the initial stages of admissions

Government sources said that as per the plan 1st to 5th standards will have two sections and 6th to 10th classes would have three sections each. Each section will have 40 students. However, the proposals cannot be considered as final as experts are still suggesting several other patterns. By 2015-16, the government is keen to establish 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th classes and the remaining classes by year 2016-17.

According to the proposals made by academics to the government, these institutions would have Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) syllabus. Teaching would be imparted in mother tongue from the Class 1st to 5th and it would be in English medium thereafter,” the sources said. Department of Education officials said that school dropouts will be given preference in the initial stages of admissions. The respective district collectors would look after the land acquisition and disbursement of funds meant for such institutions, added the sources.

AP, TS students hopeful of cracking UPSC Mains

Mohammed Younus / Hyderabad : Students and educationists/trainers from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are expecting more number of candidates to get through the Union Public Service Commission’s Mains exam, the second stage of the privileged competitive examination. The Mains examination was held on December 14 and about 16,000 candidates appeared for the across the country. Among them are 530 students from AP and Telangana.

The qualified candidates of AP and Telangana are hoping to grab a considerable number of seats in the second stage (Mains). The number of students who qualified despite the illogical CSAT pattern only shows the strength of Telugu students, said an aspirant

This year, the civil services examination is being conducted for 1,298 vacant posts and for which 4.5 lakh candidates have appeared in the first stage - preliminary examination. After the first stage examination, the competition ratio for each post is 1:12 and the same would decrease to 1:3 after Mains examination. The qualified candidates of AP and Telangana are hoping to grab a considerable number of seats in the second stage. 

Ever since the notification for UPSC was released, this year, students/trainers/educationists have been registering their protest against reforms in the examination pattern and also held it responsible for the bleak performance of the students here. An aspirant M Rajendra Kumar from Nalgonda, who have successfully crossed the first barrier, is hoping to reach to the final stage. He said, “It is sad that out of 29,000 candidates who appeared from the twin Telugu States, only 530 qualified. I am confident that most of the qualified students would definitely crack the Mains examination.” 

The number of students qualified despite the illogical CSAT pattern only shows the strength of Telugu students, he added. On the other hand, trainers while criticising the pattern also appreciated the hard work of the qualified students. Laxmaiah IAS academy director K Laxmaiah said that though the number of students qualified from the State was very little, it would not stop the competent students to clear the Mains examination. He said, “The diminishing graph of the students was only because of the unscientific CSAT pattern. I am expecting 20 students from my academy to clear the Mains examination.” 

He said that the UPSC authorities attempted to exclude south Indian candidates by putting CSAT but in the Mains our students would perform well. Interestingly, about 143 students from the State cleared the Mains examination for which almost 1,200 had appeared in the previous year. This year the percentage of students possibly cracking the Mains could be either same or more. R C Reddy IAS academy director R C Reddy said that students from the State were performing better for last one decade when it comes to the UPSC examinations. 

He said that students from other States were wary of competent and updated education system in the State. “Possibly 25 per cent students appearing from my academy could clear the second stage of the UPSC examination,” he added.

UPSC Examination Previous Statistics
Year 2014
-About 4.5 lakh appeared in preliminary examination
-As many as 16,000 qualified across the nation
-Almost 29,000 appeared from AP and TS
-Only 535 qualified in preliminary
-Examination held for 1,298 posts approximately this year
-The post and student ratio after preliminary examination is 1:12
-After Mains examination it would be 1:2 or 1:2.5

Year 2013
-Around 1,200 students from state qualified in preliminary examination
-Almost 143 qualified the Mains examination

Conversion Confusion

This has become the hot topic of politicians from Delhi to Dehradun and Mumbai to Chennai or Kanyakumari. Every politician is opining on this issue. Moreover some religious leaders (actual, factual, self styled, self imposed upon people) are also in the fray, striving to be heard, shown and published.

For me the Agra incident of ‘conversion’ seems to be the part of a larger conspiracy to bring an act in the parliament against conversions after heating this issue to the maximum level.

But the question is why some people want to stop conversions. Let us firs understand what the conversion is. If a person practicing a particular religion changes his/her religion after probably being impressed or inspired by the other one, it can be called as conversion.

The person may do this either by affection towards the other religion or for the hate or dislike for his own religion or practice. Constitution of India has also given this basic right to all of its citizens. A person can practice or follow any religion of his/her choice.

Then what was the difficulty? Who is actually much worried for this provision. I think the people who think that their practice was vulnerable to be shaken by this provision would possibly raise their voice against any such rational provision in the Constitution.

Now they wanted to bring amendment in these provisions. Now coming to the Agra, some ‘intellectuals’ arranged a havan or some kind of ritual to change the religion of some Muslims (Who were wearing skull caps at that time).

Reportedly, they have offered these underprivileged people a ration card, money and other sops if they consent to change their religion. Later on this event was publicized much through ‘responsible’ media. To some extent it was good to see this news in all kind of media. But later the actual agenda of the people behind this whole episode came to light.

They termed all the conversions in the past, dating back to 11^th century, forced conversions and hence called all the Muslims, Christians and Budhists to get back to their ‘own religion’.

How funny! But I don’t think that people of India are fools any more. India is a mature democracy today. Amateur religious leaders cannot run their show like this. Though they have planned it well but this gimmick is not going to work.

Demanding to ban conversion or freedom to follow any religion would be like challenging the very basics of this country. Even if they succeed in this task, it would become very difficult for them to hold several ‘uninterested religion mates’ in the future and then they themselves would be under pressure.

As far as conversion is concerned, forceful conversion either by muscle power or by monetary power should not be accepted. It should be up to a person as to which religion he/she wanted to follow. 

Hyderabad Metro Rail Mess

Mohammed Younus / Hyderabad : The management and students of Koti Women’s College, along with heritage lovers, are strongly opposing the changes proposed in the Metro Rail alignment as it would eventually disturb the campus atmosphere and deface a heritage structure on it. For, the modified track route would pass through the college campus intercepting it right on the middle of its ground and run towards Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS). 

Under the previous plan, the route was to pass through Sultan Bazar road. As local traders could successfully convince the State government to realign the Metro Rail so as to avoid Sultan Bazar road, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had asked the Metro Rail authorities to draw up an alternative route, they pointed out. Metro authorities proposed to cross the track from the Women’s College campus as it would help avoid any damage to property of traders in Sultan Bazar area. They proposed that the existing route could change its course from Badi Chowdi to Women’s College and move further intercepting college campus. 

Ever since this proposal came to light, the college management, students and some heritage lovers have started criticising the modified realignment plan. Women’s College principal B T Seetha sought to know how the government could ruin the place where students are being educated. Should the proposal be implemented, the only ground of the institution would vanish and the peaceful atmosphere on the campus would be disturbed forever, she reasoned. She decried that neither the State government nor the Metro Rail authorities bothered to consult the college authorities before drawing up the new route. 

Had they consulted us, we could have proposed any other alternative, she added. Yet another significant question pertains to the listed heritage structure on the campus – the Residency Building. Heritage conservationist P Anuradha Reddy said that, despite issues concerning Metro Rail realignment, there had been no public hearing and no public opinion was sought before going ahead with the project in Hyderabad. “The Metro Rail is now running in the city like a wild buffalo damaging one or the other heritage structure or public properties.” It was time for Metro Rail authorities to garner public opinion on each route it was designing rather than limit discussions to politicians who did not know much about heritage, she commented.

Before starting the project, the authorities concerned had done neither environmental assessment nor heritage sites assessment in the city. The people were the owners of city and their opinions ought to be taken. Students of the Women’s College have started protesting against the proposals as they would possibly turn their lush and vast campus ground into a highway with huge pillars carrying Metro tracks. M Snehalata, a B Sc student, said that she would not accept government’s nod to ruin her college campus. “Perhaps we would leave the campus in a year or two, but for the next generation students the college atmosphere would be completely destroyed, turning it into railway track.”

Hiring Trends in IT

Mohammed Younus / Hyderabad : Android technologies, mobile apps and cloud computing are the latest domains global IT giants are vying to hire young IT graduates in and are looking for students with required level of know-how on these technologies. With Android establishing itself firmly across a majority of the mobile industry all over the world and cloud computing technology becoming the order of today’s IT industry, the demand for fresh minds with the skillset is ever increasing. 

Institutions with latest syllabi structures are much sought after by the IT companies. Corporate giants like Google, Walmart, Microsoft, Amazon, Linked In, Invidia, Samsung and Flipkart are hiring their workforce from the local student pool of Hyderabad. Placement Head of the International Institute of Information Technologies (IIIT) Hyderabad T V Deviprasad said many of its students are landing in famed global IT companies due to its Research & Development facilities and updated syllabi as per the industry needs. 

Explaining about the current round of hiring in the IIIT-H campus, he said, “Around 120 companies have registered for recruiting the students. Out of the 365 registered students, 110 have already been hired by multiple companies.” The packages given to the first time employees are so lucrative that some of the students were offered as high as Rs 1 crore per annum. Xenovus Software limited vice President and General Manager T V P Kameshwar Rao said that the companies look for students who are flexible and innovative in their approach towards problem solving.

He said, “Students who take less time to be trained are preferred more and gain prominence and salary hikes in a shorter period of time.” Kameshwar Rao said that IT companies across the globe were looking for institutions with state of the art teaching methods and subject content. He opined that if all the engineering colleges expose their students to the real time industry conditions during their period of study, it would be helpful in tapping the vast opportunities available.

No discrimination in Universities

Hyderabad: University Grants Commission (UGC) made it clear to all the universities in the country that they should not bar any foreign academician on the grounds of race or colour. The circular issued by the apex educational grants body reached the universities of the State. UGC was prompted to issue the circular in the wake of controversy surrounding Bharatiar University of Tamil Nadu a few months ago. 

University officials barred African academicians from being a part of doctorial committee in the university. The fiat stated that African professors should not be appointed as examiners for PhD scholars. This circular was criticised by educationists and professors from across the nation. The Doctorial Committee (DC) comprises a guide, internal DC member, and external DC member. External committee members also examine the theses and research reports of students. But after the Bharatiar University’s racial episode, Indian Universities drew flak from across the globe and have been accused of racial discrimination. 

After taking note of the entire episode, the UGC asked all universities and institutes across the country to delete all such clauses from their regulations that suggest racial or other discrimination. Bharathiar university regulations had a clause avoiding examiners from African countries from examining theses. According to UGC, this kind of clause is against the country's foreign policy. The university said, “For all PhD theses (except Tamil), the panel of examiners should consist of four foreign examiners, preferably from the scientifically advanced countries, avoiding African countries (exception South Africa).”

A research scholar in economics Shaik Wasiullah from B S Abdur Rahman University said that having one external examiner is mandatory as per rules and sometimes they were called from universities of other states or other countries. He said that stopping examiners from African countries was definitely a case of racial discrimination.

Now separate Entrances..

Mohammed Younus/ Hyderabad: After strongly advocating for separate intermediate examination and constituting the separate Board of Intermediate, the Telangana government is moving ahead to hold Common Entrance Tests(CET) including EAMCET on its own. The State government is of the opinion that the CETs should be conducted separately for both the States as per the provision in the 10th schedule of the AP Reorganization Act 2014. The CETs that could be conducted separately are ICET, PGECET, LAWCET, EDCET, ECET, PECET and EAMCET as well. 

Different universities from across the undivided AP have been conducting different CETs for a long time. Some universities are located in Telangana and few are in AP, facilitating the common admissions of the students with 15 open quota for the non-local or general category students. Earlier, the government has envisaged the separate EAMCET and the modalities were under discussion. Now other common examinations have been included in the separation list.

TSCHE vice chairman S Mallesh said that a meeting of council members and other subject experts across the State on the issue was due to be held in next week. He said that the meeting would prepare the modalities for these CETs in the light of Reorganization Act. He said, “Provisions in the 10th schedule allow the TS government for conducting the CETs separately and it would never harm the spirit of the act.”
As far as the common admissions are concerned, the TS universities would surely allocate 15 per cent quota for the general category students, as mentioned in the section 95 of the 10th schedule. 

However the students of AP need to appear in the tests conducted by TS government if they wanted to take admission in the State. On the other hand, the weightage issue in the EAMCET ranking would be resolved by taking into consideration the marks given by the respective examination boards. State council was planning to implement the Percentile system to decide the ranking of EAMCET to avoid confusion among the students.

ICET has been conducted by Kakatiya University (KU), PGECET by Osmania University (OU), LawCET by Sri Venkateshwara University (SVU), EDCET by Andhra University (AU), ECET by Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Kakinada (JNTUK) and PECET by the Acharya Nagarjuna University (ANU) in the past. If the State government has its way, it would divide these entrance examinations among other universities of Telangana lessening the burden of OU and KU. Now the Palamuru University, Telangana University, Mahatma Gandhi University and Shatavahana University would take the burden of other CETs.

Entrances under consideration are:
- ICET - Held for admissions into MBA, MCA programs
- ECET- Held for admissions into engineering courses
- PGECET- for admissions into PG engineering courses
- PECET- for admissions into physical health courses
- EDCET- for admissions into teacher education courses
- EAMCET- for medicine, agriculture and engineering
- Law CET-for admission into Law courses

Inefficient Teachers

Mohammed Younus / Hyderabad : Most of the private schools in the State are functioning with inefficient teachers and about 70 per cent of them cannot answer the questions from the syllabus, they teach. These teachers were neither properly educated nor suitably trained, a government survey revealed. The survey was conducted with the help of officials from the State institutions like SCERT, DIET and School Education department. 

Teaching in Tumbling

• -Only 30 per cent are trained
• -About 80 per cent teachers don’t have syllabus/lesson plan
• -Only 30 per cent can actually understand the subjects they teach
• -Almost 90 per cent teachers needed to be trained about the syllabus and new pattern

The revelations of the survey would possibly change the mindset of parents whose children are studying in private schools. Surprisingly only 15 per cent teachers working in the private schools were found to be trained though 70 per cent among them were being graduates or post graduates. It was also revealed that several schools recruited Engineering graduates for teaching Mathematics, who don’t have any teaching experience and don’t know how to be with children.

The survey was conducted across the State to assess the efficiency of education, learning levels of students and infrastructure in private schools and the report was submitted to the State government for further action. It was revealed that around 70 per cent teachers do not have any idea about what was in the syllabus they were teaching to the students and only 30 per cent teachers could answer the questions based on the syllabus. The survey was conducted in ten districts in 442 private schools including 367 English medium, 73 Telugu medium and 2 Urdu medium. 

During the survey 10,291 teachers were questioned basing on syllabus, subject and RTE. It was found that out of around 10,000 only 3,384 were qualified in Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) and other teacher training courses. About 80 per cent of the teachers don’t read the syllabus books and found teaching without any lesson plan and syllabus plan to the students. It was revealed that only 24 per cent private schools were imparting education through the syllabus prescribed by the State government.

10

Arts College Turns 75

Mohammed Younus / Hyderabad : The architectural marvel represented by the Osmania University Arts College building -- designed by Belgian architect Monsieur Jasper – is still standing tall completing 75 years of glory. Considered the ‘Fort of Knowledge’ by many admirers, the Arts College started functioning on December 4, 1939, after the completion of its construction, which took nearly five years. 

Considered the ‘Fort of Knowledge’ by many admirers, the Arts College started functioning on Dec 4, 1939, after the completion of its construction, which took nearly five years. 

Archaeologist B Chenna Reddy says the Arts College is undoubtedly the symbol and face of Osmania University. He says, “While OU has been imparting education in various streams for a very long time the Arts College has been giving lessons of beauty of mind and integrity through its integrated structure.” The building was constructed by the seventh Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan with an intention to provide higher education to students at par with global standards. It is one of the major heritage structures in Hyderabad. 

A team of experts travelled around the world to find the right design and the right person who could design this historic masterpiece. The building in pinkish granite stone represents a harmonious blend of pillars and lintel style of Ajanta and Ellora. It was earlier started with only few departments and several other departments were added over a period of time. Starting with the building of the Arts College, the university has received several honours and awards. It has won the Institution of Potential Excellence award, besides bagging the ‘A’ grade of the National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC) and several other research centres. 

The building is listed as a World Heritage site by UNESCO and the diamond jubilee of the college building was celebrated in December 1999. Archaeology expert Abdul Qayyum says that the structure of the building itself imparts knowledge of integrity and unity to students, teachers, governments and all those who come to see it. He says that Arts College is the best symbol of unity among different communities and cultures. He adds, “The first floor of the building represents the Indian Architecture (Ellora like Pillars), the second floor represents the Islamic architecture and the entrance represents the Gothic architecture.” 

Qayyum further says that Mir Osman Ali Khan had built a fort like structure for the benefit of common people encompassing the shadows of all cultures of India. Youngsters shaped by the college over the years have turned out to be equally outstanding in their chosen spheres and the majestic building never fails to evoke nostalgia among the people who had passed through this portal of knowledge. Though the university has come a long way to reach this stage, several students are wary of the lack of research activity in the varsity. They also mourn the neglect for the subjects of Arts by university authorities.

Evading Inspection !

Mohammed Younus / Hyderabad : Several engineering colleges, found with poor infrastructure by the task force, have closed their doors to the inspection of Jawaharlal Nehru Technical University officials, with a fear of losing opportunity of admitting the students. This created apprehensions among the students who were pursuing their academic activities in them as the managements closed the campuses. Students who are keen on using the second phase of admissions are also apprehensive of this move.

-Around 170 such colleges with poor infrastructure and academic amenities were not allowed to participate in the first phase of EAMCET counseling and these managements had to knock the doors of High Court and Supreme Court for getting permission to participate in counseling
-The fresh round of inspection commenced on November 26 and it is being carried out n the private engineering colleges, listed under ‘Poor Performers’ category 

The fresh round of inspection commenced on November 26 and it is being carried out in the private engineering colleges, listed under ‘Poor Performers’ category for not having proper infrastructure. According to the JNTUH officials, the inspections were being conducted as per the orders of Supreme Court and a report would be prepared very soon. The University officials informed that several colleges kept their campuses closed during the inspection period and inspection teams could not enter them. Academic audit cell officials from the University informed that after this inspection, a comprehensive report would be prepared and submitted to the Supreme Court.

Around 170 such colleges with poor infrastructure and academic amenities were not allowed to participate in the first phase of EAMCET counseling and these managements had to knock the doors High Court and Supreme Court for getting permission to participate in counseling. The first phase was already done by the time they got the permission and de listed colleges were deprived of admissions. Again the managements had to approach apex court for conducting second phase of counseling. Supreme Court in the past had asked the JNTUH to submit a report on the infrastructure of these colleges and compliance with AICTE norms and also advised the students to be careful while selecting them.

It also told to the students that their admission into such colleges would be provisional until the report of inspection is submitted to the apex court. On the other hand, the Telangana Engineering and Professional College Managements Association chairman N Gautham Rao said that managements were not feared about inspection. He said that students need not worry about their future in these colleges as there are hopes that JNTUH and AICTE would give some more time to resurrect their shortcomings. The inspection would go on for one more week and a report would be prepared.

9

Escalated Episode of Exams

Metro News / Hyderabad : The stalemate over the conduct of Intermediate Public Examination (IPE) continues as both the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments are adamant over the respective stands. Even the intervention of Governor ESL Narasimhan could not break the ice and it seems the ball is now in the Central government’s court. At one hand, the Andhra Pradesh State government is of the opinion that it has the right to hold the examination common for students of both the States as the Board of Intermediate (BIE) is listed under 9th schedule.

On the other hand, seeking separate exams the Telangana government said that it would protect the spirit of Reorganization Act as spoken about common admissions and not common examination. Unable to come to any conclusion, the AP government complained to the Governor who summoned Telangana government and advised both the governments to solve the issue keeping in view the interests of students. But both the governments failed to reach to any amicable solution keeping the students in confusion. Telangana Education Minister G Jagadish Reddy said, “We will not change our stand of conducting separate examination for our students even if the Governor complains to the Centre.”

He said that the government’s stand was in compliance with the Reorganisation Act and alleged that the AP government was creating unnecessary controversy over it. He said that BIE belongs to Telangana as it was mentioned in the Act and if AP needs any help, the TS government will help them to conduct exams for their students. Both the governments have already released their dates of examination in the month of March but uncertainty looms following the rift between the two governments.

Now that the Governor is in Delhi, intermediate students are expecting solution either way so that at least they can sit in the examination in time as most of the competitive examinations fall in the month of May or June. A senior intermediate student S Kiran Kumar Raju said that if there was a delay in the conduct of examination then students will be at loss, who are preparing for several competitive examinations.

We will not change our stand of conducting separate examination for our students even if the Governor complains to the Centre 

'Blocked' Money !

As much as Rs 53.62 crore is lying unspent for about six years in the account of the Commissioner and Director of School Education which has been accumulated from examination fee and other resources. However, violating the rules, the department has utilised Rs 2.45 crore to meet the departmental expenditure. These facts have come to light in the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report that has been tabled in the Assembly. 

It was found that rules were violated in expending the money collected under the head of examination fee and the amount was used inappropriately without submitting it to the government treasury. CAG during the audit found that convenors, who are responsible for maintenance of proper books of account of receipts and expenditure in respect of each examination, were not complying with the rule book during the examinations conducted from 2008-09 and 2012-13. 

Contrary to the norms, the State government issued orders allowing the Commissioner to meet expenditure on conducting APTET from the revenue earned through the sale of applications and exam fee collected from applicants, instead of remitting the amount into government account. The government did not issue any guidelines for the utilisation of these funds. As per the CAG report, the Commissioner has collected Rs 89.48 crore from applicants towards examination fee of DSC, APTET, DIETCET and LPCET during the year 2008 and 2013 and spent Rs 35.86 crore for conducting these examinations. 

It was also revealed that the School Education Commissioner has retained an amount of Rs 53.62 crore in the department’s account even after the completion of events pertaining to some of the respective examinations. This also included advances of Rs 11.02 crore given to District Education Officers, which was pending adjustment for one to four years reportedly due to lack of pursuance by the commissioner.