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A well-developed education infrastructure in Hyderabad and its neighborhood is going to become an important asset for the new state of Telangana though it is expected to undergo some churning under the impact of the division of Andhra Pradesh.
Almost half of the 30% seats in convenor quota in engineering and medical colleges -- filled according to the ranking in common entrance test -- is now accessed by students from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema in colleges located in and around Hyderabad. But once the process of carving out of the new state is complete, the entire seats in Telangana will be at the disposal of locals.
As engineering seats are already in oversupply in AP, this may pose a threat to the very existence of some colleges as the entire demand cannot be generated within the new state.
"Overall, we may not see any big problem on account of state bifurcation. However, closure of some engineering colleges may become imminent," said N Ramesh, chairman of the Consortium of Engineering and Professional College Management Associations.
Almost half of the total 3,50,000 engineering seats and more than half of the 6,200-odd medical seats are available in the Telangana region. Last year, a whopping 2 lakh engineering seats remained vacant across the state on dwindling placement opportunities in IT sector besides other reasons.
While the counselling for admissions in engineering colleges is yet to begin this year the results may not be any better this time around too feel the managements.
The reimbursement of tuition fee to students in professional colleges by the government helped in filling a large number of seats in these colleges. More seats in professional colleges would also mean more financial burden on the exchequer if the future government continues with the fee reimbursement policy.
The spurt in IT and software industry in Hyderabad almost coincided with the growth in private engineering colleges as they form the supply base of skilled manpower to these companies. As the IT companies prefer to tap the colleges located in Hyderabad, this may prove a blow to the aspiring IT professionals from outside Telangana.
However, intermediate education (plus two level) in the private sector is going to be the most affected under the bifurcation, as most of the students who come to the city from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions are under this category, according to Ramesh.
According to him, at least 50,000 students from these regions come to the city every year as they are simultaneously trained by educational groups like Narayana-Chaitanya to ensure good ranks in the common entrance test, which is the gateway to entry into professional colleges. They are the ones who opt for admissions in these professional colleges and finally vie for jobs in the city's IT sector and other professions.
After the division of the state this cycle is going to break as the parents of these children are expected to prefer other alternatives than sending their children to Hyderabad. In fact, the Narayana-Chaitanya group of colleges, which had a face off with the pro-Telangana groups in the past, has already started opening similar institutions in Bangalore and other neighbouring states, according to industry sources. This group alone operates around 250 junior colleges, many of them in Hyderabad and surrounding areas.
Observers say parents from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema are now fearing a number of adverse scenarios if they continue to depend on Hyderabad for their children's education.
"Some fear that their children may get stepmotherly treatment if they study in professional colleges in Hyderabad as they will be regulated by the local nodal agency. They also fear that their children will be treated as non-locals by the government of coastal Andhra for studying in Hyderabad," an expert who tracks education sector said on condition of anonymity.
'Bifurcation a boost to education'
Professor Ghanta Chakrapani of Ambedkar Open University feels the state bifurcation will help strengthen the education sector in the Telangana region.
"Education is going to be one of the important sources to rebuild Telangana. Public funds will be available to strengthen the existing institutions as well as create new ones now," he said while alleging that over 70% of the budget allocated to the education sector was being spent only in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions all these years.
According to Chakrapani, the faculty strength in the Osmania University had dropped to less than 600 teachers when their actual number should have been about 2,000 only because of the neglect by the successive governments.
* Well-developed professional education in Hyderabad an added boost for Telangana
* Stoppage of student migration from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema may impact private sector education
* All top private educational institutions are located in Hyderabad and neighbouring Rangareddy district of Telangana
