Plight of Private Schools

Mohammed Younus/ Hyderabad: Parents who think that educational standards in private schools are higher than the government run schools may have to change their minds now, as the preliminary report of a State government survey tells rather a different story.Educational standards in private schools of the State are not so good and most of the schools do not follow the norms of the State government. The survey being done by the school education department reveals shocking details of the darker side of ‘private education’ in the state.

A survey says many goverment schools maintain good educational standards

It was revealed that several private schools do not even implement the syllabus, except for Telugu, prescribed by the state government and teach their own syllabi. About 25 percent students studying in them cannot do mathematical tables and 40 per cent students cannot read properly. The survey was being facilitated by the principals of DIET colleges, officials of SCERT and others. An official in the school education department said upon anonymity that it was revealed in the survey that learning levels of students were not satisfactory and students of 10th class were seen sticking to memorizing.

The survey will continue up to September 22, 2014. Sources in the school education department said that despite the GO 17 which prohibits the use of Guide books for SSC students, several private schools were found practicing it. It was also observed that private institutions were not implementing the latest reforms which were part of the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation that necessitates the extracurricular and co-curricular activities in the campus. On the other hand, it was noticed that a large number of the schools were not implementing the Right to Education (RTE) Act. Moreover some private private schools found holding quarterly examinations contrary to the directives of school education department that has decided to conduct exams from October 13.

Some schools were using their own syllabus for primary classes and skipping the directives of government for a long time. SCERT director S Jagannath Reddy said that it is a holistic survey being conducted with the instruction of state government. He informed that six teams of five members each are being involved in this survey. “The survey teams will collect the information on performance of teachers, students, learning levels of students, school infrastructure, implementation of government schemes like RTE, educational standards and other things”, he informed.
He said that presently the survey is only done in five districts including Hyderabad and will be done in across the state eventually. Jagannath Reddy said, “SCERT officials will submit the details of academic lapses, found during survey, to the state government after September 22.”

Ravaging Ruling

The Supreme Court’s latest ruling disallowing second phase of EAMCET counselling has come as a big blow not only to the managements of private engineering colleges, which were not allowed to participate in the first phase counselling, but also to the students who got admissions. While the colleges could not take students, the students who were already admitted would lose the opportunity of sliding and change of subjects.

The ruling has shocked the private engineering colleges which were denied participation in the first phase or convener quota counselling that was held in August as they were hoping to get some admissions at least in second phase. Supreme Court bench on Thursday rejected the petition filed by Andhra Pradesh Higher Education Council, arguing that when already many seats were left vacant in colleges, there was no need for second phase counselling. Telangana Government and Telangana State Council for Higher Education, which were against the second phase of counselling from the beginning, welcomed the decision and said that it was a student-friendly decision. 

This ruling has not only stopped the private colleges to take admissions of less qualified and non-qualified students, but also won’t leave a room for students to slide their options in the future. After completion of first phase of counselling, as many as one lakh seats in both the States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have been left vacant. Out of 2.34 lakh qualified candidates, only 1.16 lakh have been allotted seats. In first phase of counselling, around 168 engineering colleges in both the States got below 100 admissions and 11 colleges recorded zero admissions. Only a few colleges got admissions of 900 and above.

Previously, engineering colleges used to take the admissions of students who did not even qualify or those who qualified with least marks. All such students used to get fee reimbursement but now it is not possible. On the other hand, the number of students getting benefits of Financial Assistance for Students of Telangana (FAST) will also come down drastically. Only 52,839 students were allotted seats after counselling in all the engineering colleges of Telangana. An educationist P Madhusudan Reddy said that denial of second phase counselling has manifold implications and it would affect not just college managements but also the students.

“Students cannot exercise sliding options and they have to stick to the subjects they had chosen in the first phase. Eventually, they have to settle with that course or leave engineering itself,” he said. However, for the State government, it was a favorable decision as it lessens the burden of fee reimbursement scheme.

Deprived Scholarships

Hyderabad: Thousands of Model School students are deprived of scholarships as the names of their schools were not mapped (listed in) in the social welfare department website, even after one year of their establishment. Despite the representations from school principals and teachers, nothing has been done in this direction and the names of schools were not entered for scholarships. The pre matric and post matric scholarships are part of the central government scheme in which Centre releases 75 percent and State adds remaining 25 percent of the total aid given to students.

Model Schools of Nizamabad (15), Karimnagar (43), Rangareddy (7) and Mahbubnagar (7) were reportedly not mapped in the website that releases passwords and e-pass to the students. Model Schools Teachers Association president Dasarath Yadav said that students were waiting for their scholarships without knowing the fact that their schools were not even listed for the same. He said that district officials were informed about the problem and they directed us to contact regional joint directors. “The school representatives ran pillar to post for the names to be enrolled as several students left the schools and many others planning to leave.” He said that the commissioner of school education supervises the Model Schools and nothing has been done on their part to help the students to get their scholarships.

Karimnagar comes under 5th zone and remaining districts Nizamabad, Rangareddy and Mahbubnagar come under 6th zone. Among total the 176 functioning Model Schools, names and details of around 70 schools were not mapped in the website. Strength of each school is up to 320 in classes from 6th to 10th along with 160 students in 10+2 classes.
Dichpally Model School incharge Ganesh Kumar said that officials don’t even know that Model School students were entitled to get the benefits of this scheme. He said, “Because of their laxity thousands of students already lost their one year scholarship.” 

When students studying in Models Schools of other districts can get the scholarship how would some districts were excluded from the scheme, he questioned. The Model Schools, which were started functioning from the June 2013 in the state completed one year few months ago. Officials in the social welfare department which is now renamed as Scheduled Caste Development Department did not respond to the queries pertaining to scholarships.

Secluded and Excluded !

Mohammed Younus/ Hyderabad : Senior students of engineering colleges that have been ‘excluded’ from the process of counselling this year as a result of their being under fire from the State government and JNTUH for not having educational facilities and infrastructure in line with standards approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) are now feeling guilty for being part of such tainted institutions.

Although nothing serious would befall the students technically, they all are hurt emotionally as the colleges in which they are studying are now considered “not good” by the people around them too. Students are embarrassed to be the part of such institutions and some are worried about their future after completion of their course. B V Chandrasekhar, studying in 3rd year in such a college, said that when the government stopped their college from participating in counseling most of the students got worried about their fate. He said, “Technically we can continue with our studies, but the other side of this decision hurts us more when we are seen as a student of ‘not good’ colleges.”

He said that it might haunt them in their future struggle for either higher studies or while pursuing other career goals. Many students said that they felt as if they were traces of apartheid in student community just by being part of de-listed colleges. Students are also worried about the continuous ‘negative’ coverage pertaining to the colleges in which they are studying. Mohammed Noman, another student of third year, in an engineering college located on the outskirts of city said that whenever someone pointed to his colleges as ‘excluded’, he felt embarrassed. He said, “For me the other two years will be of mental agony and embarrassment.” 

He said that there were several students working hard for their studies and struggling to build their knowledge, but the incident of exclusion of colleges from counseling had come as a shocker to them. JNTUH officials said that they would not talk on this issue as the matter involving colleges was sub judice but said that studies of 2nd, 3rd and 4th year students would not be disturbed. However, University authorities had earlier warned the managements of de-listed colleges of stern action if standards were not maintained.

On the other hand, college managements said that most of the colleges were de-listed or kept away from counseling without any valid reason. The chairman of an engineering college, who did not want to be identified, said that AICTE had granted permission after verifying the basic infrastructure and facilities in the beginning itself. He said, “Without the infrastructure, including building, faculty and laboratories, AICTE would not have granted the permission.”

Welcome Decision

 There is a mixed reaction to the decision of the Board of Intermediate Education to introduce a subject on Ethics and Human values for junior Intermediate students.Academicians and social scientists felt that the decision will surely help the students in understanding the human values and social dignity while getting educated in their choice of other subjects. BIE recently announced the introduction of this new subject from the academic year 2014-15 and made it compulsory for all the students to appear for an examination in it. The syllabus includes topics like character, equality, individual and society values, empathy, communal harmony, religious and cultural values of various religions, social concerns towards society, environment, nation and others.

Senior fellow at ICSSR and social scientist Prof S Tirumali said, “This decision to include ethics and human values in the syllabus will help in eradicating evils in the society.” The syllabus contains the minimum human values and basic etiquettes that are needed for a human being in a society especially in a pluralistic society like India. The syllabus includes the knowledge of Indian Constitution, national anthem, topics on national integrity and unity in diversity. Some educationists feel that though the decision was appreciable already lot of damage has taken place. They argue that extensive privatization of education especially at intermediate level in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh actually spoiled the minds of young children in past two decades.

Noted educationist Kancha Illaiah said that lack of ethics always leads to a materialistic mindset and if educated people are devoid of human values there is no guarantee of them serving for the nation in their lives. Books and other material for the subject were prepared by the board and printed by the Telugu Academy are available in the market. The subject comprises of three components, theoretical, group project and individual project.

The group project includes the visit to a village, to gymnasium, internet café, government hospital, an old age home, fair price shop, pension office, raitu bazar, food processing unit, industry and others thus exposing students to the entire society around them.
Board of Intermediate secretary Rama Shankar Naik said that the modalities for to impart ethics and human values will be finalized very soon. He said that the scheme to accommodate the activities of new subject will also be prepared and sent to the colleges across both the states.

No Takers..!

Not long ago, the combined Andhra Pradesh was widely hailed as an educational hub in the country with a string of private professional colleges offering a wide range of courses. However, post-bifurcation, both the States—Telangana and Andhra Pradesh—are caught in a paradox. A problem of plenty is staring at professional colleges which had mushroomed in the combined State. 

Last year, the number of zero admission colleges was 35. Only 103 out of 476 colleges in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh get 100 per cent admissions.

At least nine out of 335 engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh recorded zero admissions and one among the 141 engineering colleges in Telangana recorded zero admissions during EAMCET 2014 counselling. Last year, the number of zero admission colleges was 35. Most of the engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh recorded low rate of admissions compared to Telangana, owing to which a large number of seats in more than a dozen colleges have been left un-filled. The turf war between Telangana and AP government over who should oversee the counselling and seat allotment had delayed the process, prompting several students to migrate to professional colleges in Bengaluru, Chennai and other cities. 

Moreover, the standards of professional colleges have been declining over years. Several engineering colleges are now facing the risk of closure following poor response from students. A combination of factors has led to the present glut. Indiscriminate sanction of colleges in private sector, poor infrastructure, faculty, laboratories and other facilities and falling standards in the new colleges are among the factors that contributed to the declining demand. Around 103 colleges collectively in both the States recorded 100 per cent admissions with 66 in Telangana and 32 in AP. Colleges with above 500 admissions in Telangana stand at 13 compared to only eight in Andhra Pradesh. 

Colleges with 600 to 700 admissions in Telangana are 10 compared to seven in Andhra Pradesh. At the same time, the number of colleges with 96 to 100 admissions in AP is 147 cumulatively and it stands at 21 in Telangana. Interestingly, only one college in both States recorded admissions above 900 seats. During previous year, counselling for around 643 colleges cumulatively recorded 900 and above admissions where as it was reduced to 475 this among which 149 belong to Telangana and 396 belong to Andhra Pradesh. 

When it comes to seats, around 73,059 seats were left vacant after the completion of convenor quota counselling in both the States. Around 2.34 lakh students qualified in Eamcet 2014, of which 1.14 lakh belong to Andhra Pradesh and 88,937 belong to Telangana region. A total of 1.22 lakh students attended the certificate verification process and 1.20 lakhs students exercised their options. Around 63,190 students in AP and 52,839 students were allotted seats.

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