Fine Arts Students at JNAFAU battle the system

The JNAFAU campus here at Masab Tank, Hyderabad, saw the students in a new light today. The campus took by storm as the students went on a strike to protest the poor state of the faculty and management in the college.

After repeated complaints that have fallen on deaf ears, the students decided to resort to a strike. Since the beginning of the course in 2008, the students have faced difficulties with various aspects on the college. One of the main the concerns is the lack of proper equipment and infrastructure in the campus. Every year, the Animation Department of Fine Arts takes in 65 students and yet the classes aren’t even equipped to accommodate 40 students. The students fret over the outdated equipments that the college still uses as teaching devices while the rest of the media world has moved on long ago. The computer labs continue to be ill-equipped as they don’t seem support even half of the class strength.

Another concern that is plaguing the students equally badly is the reckless attitude of the faculty members towards the students. Students complain that they do not comprehend with what is being taught in the class as often the faculty members don’t know the subjects well themselves. The prescribed syllabus is never taught and the question papers for the exams are altered to the limited syllabus that they’re taught. And all this happens right in the examination hall, say the students.

If this is the sad plight of the syllabus, the lectures themselves have a whole new story to unveil. Differences between the faculty members have led to pity politics among them which pose as a threat to the student’s future.Lecturers never turn up on time, resort to downgraded methods of teaching, reprimand the students for questioning them and even hold ill-feelings and threaten them over grades when complains reach their ears. And to top it all, the faculty members mostly use Telugu as a medium for teaching, making it difficult for students from other states to comprehend.

Bearing all this in mind, the students had a meeting to the Principal, and Vice Chancellor. Evidently, the management decided to turn a blind eye to the issues which has led to this strike. As of now the main priority of the students remain is the immediate change in the faculty members for a better lecturers.