All CETs in State to go online

Hyderabad: Deputy Chief Minister, who also holds Education portfolio, Kadiyam Srihari on Wednesday said all common entrance tests (CETs) in the State would be conducted online from the next academic year.

Addressing a press conference at the Secretariat after a high-level review meeting with officials here, Srihari declared that the government would conduct all CETs online for transparency. He instructed the officials to make necessary arrangements for the same. Telugu will be made compulsory for classes from 1st to the Intermediate from 2018 academic year and officials are working on modalities. They are on the job to provide changed syllabus for students from other States.

It was also decided in the meeting to take stringent measures against the colleges and schools violating norms and to instil confidence among people on government schools and colleges. The academic year would be rescheduled, and all government and private schools should commence classes from June 1 in view the Telangana Formation Day which falls on June 2, he said.

The Deputy Chief Minister said the government was keen on giving more importance to games and extracurricular activities and urged all schools and other educational institutions to provide facilities and to arrangement for the equipment required for the same.

A committee constituted to study the salary structure recommended 75 per cent increase of salaries of contract or outsourcing staff and Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao would take a call in this regard, Srihari said.He expressed concern over the cases of suicides and attempt to suicides in colleges and attached hostels and reiterated that the government would take stringent measures against such institutions. “We have conducted inspections and raids on 194 colleges and found more than 100 colleges lack facilities and violating norms,” Srihari said.

Srihari appealed to the parents to avoid preferring only Narayana and Chaitanya colleges as there were many other institutions that offered better quality education. Some private colleges were falling in line and closing on holidays, he said, adding that high fees being collected in some institutions were put in check. About 60 to 70 per cent seats in private colleges were not filled due to false permissions given by the previous government and steps would be taken to regulate them, he said.

“The managements should obtain prior permissions for colleges and hostels. The officials will offer permission in December and sanction by April every year,” he added. The government would recruit physical education teachers on contract or outsourcing basis, the Deputy Chief Minister said.