Hyderabad: 20 tech colleges want to close, cite fewer students, faculty

Hyderabad: With nearly 20 engineering colleges applying for closure, there will be fewer options for students applying for admission in the coming academic year.

According to sources, private engineering colleges affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University-Hyderabad, mostly the tier-2 ones, have decided to shut shop for a variety of reasons.

The colleges are closing because of financial unviability, lack of the required number of student admissions, the stringent norms for faculty and infrastructure imposed by the university and the government’s attitude towards the colleges.

Last year, too, 21 colleges applied for closure. The managements wanted permanent closure straight away. They wanted the varsity to transfer second, third and final-year students to other private colleges so that they could close down completely. JNTU-Hyderabad did not agree to a permanent closure and instead gave permission for progressive closure.

“The colleges concerned were told that there would be no intake of freshers (first year students), but existing batch students — from the second, third and fourth years — have to complete their study in the present college. Closing an institution at short notice will pose difficulties for students as well as faculty members,” a varsity official said.

Colleges that have approached the university for closure this year will also be given permission for progressive closure. Meanwhile, 85 engineering colleges have requested the university to give permission to discontinue some under-graduate and post-graduate courses in mechanical, electrical, pharmacy and other courses.

The JNTU-H has made it mandatory for all engineering colleges to hire PhD faculty for each course depending upon the intake, and this is proving to be a herculean task for most colleges.

President of the Telangana Private Engineering and Professional College Managements Associa-tion, N. Goutham Rao, said that engineering colleges have been having a tough time for the last few years and it was understandable that they want to close. The university has given all colleges time till February 25 to submit applications, and chances of the number increasing are not ruled out.

No Vasavi follow-up on move to down shutters
Students, faculty and alumni of Vasavi Engin-eering College, one of the two Telugu states, that sought permission for closure a few months ago, can heave a sigh of relief.

According to Osmania University Registrar Prof. Gopal Reddy, the administration had not taken a decision on the college application.

“The application submitted by the Vasavi management was not in the prescribed format so we cannot consider it. The college management did not even do a follow-up on the matter like checking with the varsity about the status of their letter, whether they have to submit relevant documents etc,” Prof Gopal Reddy told this correspondent.