Telangana Govt. to Shut Down 350 Private Degree Colleges

The Telangana State Council for Higher Education (TSCHE) is expected to shut down over 350 private degree colleges across the state. At present, there are 1,100-degree colleges in the state and the state government wanted to have less than 700 colleges so that there would be no vacant seats in degree courses from the next academic session. However, the final decision in this regard is not taken yet.

The council has identified the degree less with the poor enrolment of students. These colleges might be given two options, i.e., progressive closure or merger.

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During the degree admissions for the academic session 2017-18, there were no takers for 1.70 lakh seats. The intake of colleges is more than the existing demand. Therefore, the state government is looking for a possibility to rationalise private degree colleges. Moreover, the management of over 350 colleges understood that it is impossible to run the colleges with fewer students. In fact, the demand for B. Tech and M. Tech seats in Telanga has been on a downward spiral. With less than approximately 5000 applications for M. Tech courses in Telangana, TSCHE is contemplating slashing of engineering seats or shutting down colleges.

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Chairperson of TSCHE, Mr. T. Papi Reddy convened a meeting on January 8, 2018, to discuss the issue of vacant seats and rationalisation of private colleges.

During the meeting, it was observed by the council that many private degree colleges with poor enrolment are resorting to unfair means like giving exemption of attendance, allowing students to exams without minimum attendance, awarding internal marks without proper procedure and others.

Mr. Papi Reddy clarified that the state government will take necessary steps to regulate such kind of practices in private degree colleges. Students will have to attend the classes regularly and maintain at least 75% of attendance per semester.

TSCHE also decided to stop giving permissions for setting up new private degree colleges.