The falling standards of professional education, especially in private engineering colleges, in Telangana, is a cause of concern for the new State as lakhs of engineering graduates passing out of these institutions lack basic employable skills. “Many of these colleges are run only for the fee reimbursement schemes and not for providing quality education. What’s the use of such institutions. If this is the quality, what should a new state like Telangana showcase?” avers Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in an exclusive interview to The Hindu. Here are the excerpts.
Why do you say these colleges are so bad?
I am not exaggerating. Not all colleges may fall in this category. But is it not a fact that many of them recruit agents to get students? Many colleges lack basic facilities like laboratories. Many do not have qualified faculty members. Please refer to the Report on Task Force Inspections of Engineering Colleges submitted to the government in August 2012. Most of these colleges do not pay salaries prescribed for teaching and non-teaching staff. There have been instances where under-qualified persons being recruited as lecturers. When the students pass out of these institutions what will their capabilities be? These colleges were thriving only on the fee reimbursement scheme, which is one of the biggest scandals in AP…
Is that the reason why you are insisting that Fee Reimbursement Scheme should be scrapped and it be replaced by a new one named FAST?
Definitely! The fee reimbursement scheme is a big scandal. This was intended only to benefit the colleges as money was directly paid to professional colleges. A huge sum of Rs. 9,300 crore to Rs. 10,000 crore was being spent every year and 75 per cent of this money was going to private colleges. Now in Telangana, the burden would be about Rs. 4,300 crore per annum.
So now your focus will be on improving the standards of education…
Telangana is a new state and it will witness a boom in industrialisation soon. The Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) initiative will create a solid demand for qualified youngsters. Wherever there is a major industry, there would be 30 to 40 Small and Medium Scale Enterprises would be set up. These provide employment to local youth. In fact, every government would encourage major industries and assure them that they would get skilled employees. Most of the times, conscious attempts are made to provide quality training to workforce in professional education institutions. But now what do I showcase for the major industries? Should I showcase this ugly face?
But isn’t the delay in conduct of Eamcet counselling going to cost dearly for students?
There would be some delay, but it is for good of the students only. Many with vested interests are demanding that counselling be held immediately. Conduct of counselling means allotment of students to colleges. The minute this is done, they would start insisting on payment of fee and the arrears also. It is a ploy of some political parties to deliberately foment unrest among students.
How much would have to be paid if fee reimbursement scheme is to be continued?
It could be about Rs 4000 crore a year. With this money I can complete one irrigation project per year. My argument is Telangana government will pay for its students, even if they are studying in Andhra Pradesh. Let AP Government pay for its students. It’s that simple. There are an estimated 40,000 students who declared themselves as hailing from Andhra Pradesh and another 60,000 who claim to have settled here. Why should Government of Telangana pay for them? Telangana students might go to Delhi or other states to study. Can we ask those governments to pay for them? There is no rationale behind the AP ministers asking us to pay for their students.
One must also understand that what we are doing is for the future of Telangana students only. Telangana has inherited the legacy of all these scandals. As a person who led the agitation for formation of Telangana, I had spoken against these practices. Now as the Chief Minister, I must do justice to Telangana. How can I forget what I spoke during the agitation? I have my responsibilities to fulfil.
