The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : No new engineering colleges in State

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 22, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

No new engineering colleges in State

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, NOV. 21. The State Government announced today that it would not allow any more engineering, MBA, MCA and pharmacy colleges in the State.

At a meeting held in the Chief Minister's chambers to review technical education, it was decided to write to the All-India Council for Technical Education, urging it not to give recognition to any new engineering college.

The Government too would not give its "no-objection certificate."

Vacancies

Announcing this at a press conference later, the Minister for Technical Education, N. Narasimha Reddy, said the Government had decided to fill two-thirds of the vacancies of lecturers and lab assistants numbering 370 and 470 respectively.

Mr. Reddy said students in engineering colleges with a strength of less than 10 would be allowed transfer to other colleges within the district.

There were nine such colleges in the State.

There were another 76 colleges with less than 100 students, but the Government would allow them to function "normally" at present and not extend the transfer facility to these students, he clarified.

Regulatory authority

K.C. Reddy, chairman of the Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education, announced that the Government would constitute a regulatory authority for private and foreign educational institutions.

He said with the provisions of the World Trade Organisation coming into effect from January 1, 2005, the country would be open to foreign investments in education. This authority would help regulate standards and protect the interests of students.

Scholarships

The Minister for Higher Education, P. Venkateswara Rao, said the Government had decided to limit Pratibha scholarships to students from families with an income less than Rs. 1 lakh.

Wards of families who pay income-tax would not be eligible for the scholarships.

But all selected students would still receive the certificate of merit.

English course

The Government was considering introduction of English from class six in the rural schools to improve the pass percentage at the Intermediate level.

Increasing the working hours of teachers was also planned in this regard.

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Andhra Pradesh