The on-going agitation seeking a separate Telangana State may adversely impact prospects of the students in the region as education is hard-hit.
The functioning of intermediate colleges, institutions offering professional education such as engineering, medicine and management came to a grinding halt during the last 18 days along with schools in the Telangana region.
Thin attendance
When contacted, a senior State Government official confirmed that the Government Junior and Degree colleges were virtually ‘closed' for over two weeks.
“The attendance of lecturers has been thin while no classes are being conducted,'' he said. The corporate colleges have been particularly targeted by the agitators this time and the leading names, Narayana and Chaitanya, have declared indefinite holidays.
Phone calls
“There have been phone calls every day warning us not to run classes. We don't want to take any risk,'' said a senior functionary of a corporate college chain.
The performance of students in the Engineering and Medical Common Entrance Test (Eamcet) and tests for admission into Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) might get adversely affected during this year, he added.
MIGRATION
The corporate colleges are also receiving requests from concerned parents in the Telangana region to shift their wards to educational hubs in coastal Andhra regions like Guntur, Vijayawada and Nellore.
The corporate colleges have also started expansion drive in coastal regions to accommodate additional students, according to sources.
Special classes
“My son is studying in a corporate college. As he is among the selected few for special focus on merit-basis, he is attending special classes with others in a non-descript apartment which is locked from outside,'' a top functionary of Spandana Spoorty Financial Ltd said.
It is not just last two weeks which are worrying many parents. In this academic year alone, already over 40 days were lost due to bandhs and agitations and the syllabus cannot be completed properly, say academic experts.
Exams at home
The schools are also trying different methods to prevent loss to the students. “We have been asked to conduct exams at home after receiving question papers for my son studying 8{+t}{+h} standard in Delhi Public School,'' Mr Venkat Rao, who works for AP Health Department said.
Was it possible for the political leadership to think of exempting schools and colleges from agitations for better future of younger generations, he quipped.