HYDERABAD: Several private degree colleges in Telangana are staring at the prospect of closure owing to a sharp drop in the intake of students.Already, about 600 underperforming private colleges have shut shop in the State in the last five years.
Though it is not clear how many would follow suit, their number, nonetheless, would be quite high. "The intake is poor as they have been academically underperforming. This is on account of low fee structure which makes them unviable," said T Papi Reddy, Chairman of Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE).
Private colleges in Telangana are having a tough time with revenues dwindling and overhead costs increasing. Unable to hire quality faculty and incapable of attracting students, they are dying a natural death.
Papi Reddy said, “About five years ago, the State had several private colleges, including those that were small and located in rural areas. Due to poor quality of education, students gave a thumbs down to these. Now, many of these colleges have vanished and many more are in various stages of extinction,” the TSCHE Chairman said.
According to the TSCHE data, the intake under the Degree Online Services Telangana (DOST) has come down sharply from 4,05,612 in 2017 to 3,86,864 in 2019.
Low fee reason for colleges closing
This is a drop of 18,748 enrolments in 987 colleges under DOST.“The number of private colleges in the State has come down from 1,540 in 2014-15 to 916 in 2019. Many more colleges are likely to pack up in the years to come,” said Gouri Sateesh, advisor, Osmania University Degree and PG Colleges’ Management Association.
"The private colleges in rural areas are underperforming primarily because they run on low fee structures. As the managements cannot provide quality education without adequate economic viability, students are not showing interest in joining them," he said, adding, "If private colleges disappear from the Telangana hinterland, it does not augur well for the education system in the State."
As the government has not been establishing colleges on its own, the private colleges have to meet the demand. But in rural areas, unable to meet the cost overruns, the quality has dropped and as a result, there is no patronage, he said and pointed out that the government should find a way to make private colleges survive in rural areas.