Not assurances, give us GO, demand Telangana polytechnic students

HYDERABAD: Rejecting Labour and Employment Minister G Vivek Venkataswamy's clarification on the proposed merger of polytechnic education with Young India Skills University (YISU), students and student organisations are demanding something more concrete – a written Administration Order (GO) protecting their academic and higher education opportunities.

Key points

• The reservations came to the fore after the minister clarified on Thursday that the proposed merger would not adversely affect polytechnic students.
• For students, nevertheless, a number of questions remain unanswered – from academic progression and fees to stipends and the proposed public-private partnership (PPP) model.
• We need a clear policy on fees and other academic provisions before the merger is implemented.

What happened

Notably, the reservations came to the fore after the minister clarified on Thursday that the proposed merger would not adversely affect polytechnic students. He remarked students would continue to be able to enter the second year of BTech courses through lateral entry and that the ECET examination would additionally continue.

"We need a clear policy on fees and other academic provisions before the merger is implemented. There is no clarity on how fees will be regulated if polytechnics are brought under a public-private partnership model, " remarked T Aditya, a polytechnic student. Another polytechnic student, Ravi, continued, "We want opportunities for higher education. There is additionally no clarity on whether the stipend of `2, 000 that was unveiled will be permanent or given every year or monthly."

The bottom line

In short, not assurances, give us GO, demand Telangana polytechnic students is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.