No govt Jr college in Tirupati

Tirupati: Local students are hard hit as there is no government junior college in the pilgrim city. In the absence of a government college at Intermediate level, which was crucial in the sense it was the base for the students desire to take up professional courses like medicine, engineering, agriculture, veterinary, Ayurveda and other courses, it was the students from the poor and middle classes, who are at the receiving end as they have no choice but to pay more for education in private junior colleges.

There are two junior colleges one each for boys and girls run by TTD in the temple city but for several reason both the colleges have turned beyond the reach of locals more so for the general (open) category students.

The total seats in SPW Junior College for Girls offering 11 courses are 968 while SV Junior College for Boys, the total intake in the nine courses is only 800. Unlike any government college, the reservation of seats is very high with 85 per cent for various categories in TTD junior colleges.

This includes 20 per cent quota for employees and management (ten percent each), statutory quota of 15 per cent to SC, 7.5 ST, 28 BC, 15 to non-locals. With reservation of differently abled and sports quota it goes further.

C Swarajyalakshmi, former principal of TTD SPW College said that there are ten municipal high schools, one government school for girls and four TTD schools but only two junior colleges making very difficult for the local boys to get a seat in Intermediate.

The only way is setting up government junior college here in the larger interests of the students in the city and surrounding areas like Tiruchanur, Mangalam and other localities.

The admission into TTD junior colleges for the local boys and girls more so for the open category turned a sore grape, said a parent Lakshminaryana, a private employee, who joined his son in a private junior college after he failed to get a seat in the TTD Junior College, though he scored about 90 per cent.

What was surprising was the government remaining aloof while political parties and students organisations here is also ignored the dire need of government setting up two junior colleges in the pilgrim city to cope with steady increase in the number of students, said Government Junior Lecturers Association secretary V Ravi.

He said the association represented to the government which also agreed two years back to set up a junior college in the premises of the ZP High School, MR Palli in the city but it is still not grounded.

Many parents explained how they were forced to join their children in private college paying more after they failed to get seat in TTD colleges though their lads secured good marks because high percentage of reservation coupled with the available seats remaining static for long in TTD colleges.

They said the two-aided colleges in the city is not up to the mark and there is every need for two government junior colleges to be set up for the education of children from poor and middle class, to avoid them pay more for Intermediate education.