Students face grim future as Golconda degree college lacks teachers, infra

Hyderabad: Rampant teacher absenteeism and poor infrastructure is jeopardising the education of as many as 500 students of Government Degree College for Women in Golconda.
The situation is grim with students saying there was no permanent faculty and that they are being forced to make do with just one class a day. Going to college but not getting to attend classes has virtually become the norm here.
BA second year student Amena said students are now at their wit's end."Of the five subjects in my course, only one -- history -- is being taught. There are no teachers for political science, economics, English and Arabic, which are the other subjects. We are worried about our future. This has been the case since July," she said. Public representatives who were approached too could not help matters, she said.
Other students said that while those in English medium like Amena had access to books, Urdu medium students are worse off. "We have not received books so far. We do not even know what our subjects are. Apart from Urdu, which is the second language, teachers have not taken any classes," said Rubeena Begum, a first year Urdu medium B Com student.
Another student said the degree college didn't eve have a principal. The principal from the City College had come over a few times, she said, adding that they did deserve a full-time principal.
When all requests fell on deaf ears, students decided to take the matter to the commissionerate of collegiate education. But that also proved to be a daunting task. "We were told that the commissioner was on leave. The person we met also could not do much," a student requesting anonymity said.
The representation the students handed over read: "We inform you that there are no lecturers in the college. Students come to the college daily but sit idle before heading back home..." They feared they may might lose an entire academic year.
When contacted in-charge commissioner Vijay Prasad said, "We recieved the representation from students on August 23. We will review the matter and take action."