At a time when public educational institutions are struggling for survival, with private institutions luring students away, a Government First Grade Degree College in Sedam of Kalaburagi district has been a standout.
Presently, over 1,500 students – more than six times the intake limit – are pursuing B.A., B.Com and B.Sc courses in the college. For the current academic year, the college has already admitted 230 students against the intake limit of 120 for B.A., 160 students against the limit of 60 for B.Com and 65 students against the intake limit of 60 for B.Sc.
Unable to accommodate the students in the existing building in the government college, a yet-to-be-inaugurated ladies’ hostel is being temporarily used to take classes. The college administration hopes that the completion of work on 10 more classrooms will reduce the stress to some extent.
On the other hand, a private college here that is older than the government college, is struggling to get even 150 students. “There are several private colleges in Chincholi and other places that are relatively closer to my village. But, none of them is as good as the Sedam government college in terms of quality of teaching and infrastructure,” Chandrakala, a B.Sc student told The Hindu . The college is also known for its extracurricular activities.
The teaching staff is well-qualified and trained. Of the sanctioned 28 lecturers, 22 are working and most of them are doctoral degree holders. To deal with the swelling students’ strength, the management has recruited 45 guest lecturers.
“The quality of education, qualified and well-trained faculty, better infrastructure, and affordability persuades students and parents to prefer our college over others,” says principal Shivasharanappa Dhaba. Some classrooms are equipped with screens, projectors and other audio-visual equipment for better teaching-learning experience.
“Our students are exposed to tele-education accessing quality lecturers from premier institutes such as IIM, Bengaluru. All lecturers are provided with high-end laptops for better preparation,” Shashikanth Reddy, associate professor of physics, said. The college staff attributes the success to Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil, who represents Sedam in the Legislative Assembly, and heads the college administration.
