Each Assembly constituency in the State will have a model government junior college by next year beginning and as part of it, the State government has asked principals and Regional Joint Director a college which has good student strength for comprehensive improvement under the proposed programme.
The college with own buildings and additional site will be equipped with required classrooms and the existing ones repaired, if necessary. Also, other amenities like one toilet block for every 50 students, will be provided, according to Kadapa Regional Joint Director of Intermediate Education Karanam Chandrasekhar Rao.
Reacting to a report published in these columns on Wednesday, he told The Hindu that some 750 posts were vacant against a sanctioned strength of 2,000 faculty members in the State and some recruitments were likely in January.
Poor infrastructure
Admitting poor infrastructure and shortage of regular teaching and non-teaching staff, he said the NABARD would construct 17 college buildings and the Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan (SSA) was getting all the detailed project reports for improvement/ construction of new buildings for the proposed model government junior colleges next month.
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was keen on getting six model junior colleges in his Pulivendula Assembly constituency and they would be functional in all aspects along with others in the State from next academic year. Colleges at Lingala, Vemula, Chakrayapet, Thondur, and Pulivendula would be developed as model ones. In three phases over the next three years, all 471 junior colleges in the State would be made ones.
A budget allocation of about ₹4 lakh was given to each of general government junior colleges for infrastructure improvement and similarly ₹4 lakh each for the vocational colleges was also sanctioned. But, the funds were insufficient and the new government promised to enhance this, as it promised ₹33,000-crore budget for education, Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao pointed out.
