TEC public hearing on Intermediate education in Telangana
Intermediate education in the State needs reforms with changes ranging from curricula, building trust among parents, making government junior colleges more accessible, including timely payment of scholarships and fee reimbursements to students and institutions, among others.
Wide-ranging concerns were noted by various stakeholders at the public hearing organised by the Telangana Education Commission (TEC) here on Wednesday.
TEC member P.L. Vishweshwar Rao, opening the session, stressed that the State has been witnessing lower enrolment numbers and there was also a need to diversify by looking beyond the four traditional streams of MPC, BiPC, MEC and CEC.
No junior college
For one girl who attended the hearing with her mother, the concern was even more basic. She hails from Kapra mandal in Medchal Malkajgiri district, home to over 1.60 lakh people, but with no government junior college. Her family cannot afford private college fees and is hesitant to send her away for higher education.
Parents also highlighted the lack of awareness about Gurukula schools and called for fee regulation, career counselling and greater CSR involvement to improve infrastructure and services.
Civil society members echoed these concerns, pointing to poor infrastructure, high dropout rates due to the distance to colleges, lack of career guidance and a shortage of lecturers.
Strengthening colleges
Domain experts, lecturers and union leaders spoke about the 'visible erosion of trust' in government colleges. Of 3,009 colleges in the State, only 400 are government-run, and over 90% of students are also enrolled in private institutions, they said. They called for a strict fee regulatory mechanism, and strengthening the colleges with sufficient funds, coaching and infrastructure.
Participants also said that the government must reconsider the need for EAMCET, if Intermediate examination is made the basis for future streams.
TEC chairperson Akunuri Murali said the main idea of the public hearing was to understand the concerns of parents and students. He also pointed to the stress level among students and the rapid commercialisation of Intermediate education. He assured that TEC will study the various aspects in depth, analyse and formulate suitable recommendations.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
10 hours ago
- Indian Express
Neutral monetary policy stance retains an option for both pausing and cutting rates: RBI MPC Member Saugata Bhattacharya
Saugata Bhattacharya, a Member of the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), says that geopolitical tensions are unlikely to pose a 'significant risk' to the RBI's growth-inflation forecasts, based on the current data and global environment. Several positive factors supporting India's economic momentum, including a favourable monsoon, strengthening rural demand, the possibility of monetary policy easing, and timely government initiatives — all of which bode well for a revival in growth, he says. In an interview with Hitesh Vyas and George Mathew, Bhattacharya — the lone MPC Member who voted for a more modest 25 basis points (bps) cut in the repo rate during the June policy review, as opposed to the 50-bps reduction backed by other members — emphasises that the committee's 'neutral' stance leaves room for both a pause and further rate cuts, depending on future developments. Bhattacharya currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research. Was it too early to change the monetary policy stance to neutral in the last policy? At the outset, let me reiterate that I speak only for myself and these are my personal opinions. Although I had some prior reservations on changing the stance from neutral to accommodative at the April '25 meeting, I had gone with the majority view on the shift. This was based on the clarification that the shift to accommodative signalled only that 'a rate hike [was] off the table' and remained consistent with a pause, with the more probable future action, despite the then extreme uncertainty, being a cut, given the space opening up for policy easing with falling CPI inflation. The shift now back to neutral is simply a mild forward guidance that, post the steep 100 bps (and now front loaded) repo rate cuts over the space of 4 months together with the large surplus system liquidity, this was a time to pause, monitor the incoming data on a 'meeting-by-meeting' basis, assess the effects on macro-financial data and proceed with further calibrated easing should economic conditions so warrant. The collective point was to emphasise that there would be no further pre-committed policy easing in this cycle. Do you see the probability of more rate cuts in the near future in the wake of benign retail inflation? A neutral stance still retains an option for both pausing as well as cutting rates. Given the present, evolving and likely continued elevated levels of uncertainty, rate actions will have to be based on incoming data and an assessment of the associated macro-financial environment. It is very difficult to provide guidance at this point. This change of stance, once again, in no way precludes the possibility of further easing if actual inflation undershoots forecasts and opens up further space for policy easing. RBI Governor has already articulated this succinctly. With recurring geopolitical tensions that pose a risk to inflation, do you expect domestic inflation to remain in the RBI's comfort zone for the entire FY26? I don't think, given our present information set, various geopolitical tensions are likely to be a significant risk to RBI's forecasts of the growth-inflation balance. To my mind, more worrying is the evolving series of bilateral trade deals with multiple countries, which will define the relative export competitiveness of India. More importantly, the eventual outcomes will define an eventual equilibrium of supply chains, investments, trade flows, which will have a more profound effect on India growth prospects. Given the challenging global environment, especially tariff issues, do you think we will be able to meet the real growth rate of 6.5 per cent in FY26? Due to the continuing elevated uncertainty regarding global trade, the continuing spillovers into financial markets volatility and the prospects, extending well into the medium term, of adverse economic shocks on growth, economic forecasts at this point, to my mind, are only indicative in nature, conveying merely a sense of the direction of travel. As of now, most high frequency indicators suggest continued resilience in economic activity. Prospects of a good monsoon and improving rural demand, combined with the monetary policy easing and various well-timed Government initiatives, augur well for growth revival. What key triggers are required for India to achieve its aspirational growth target of 7-8 per cent? As RBI Governor has stated, monetary policy is a necessary but not sufficient condition for stimulating growth. MP is a component of a coordinated policy response. The thoughtful personal income tax rate cuts in the Budget, higher targeted budget capital outlays, trade deals and negotiations, manufacturing incentives, regulatory and compliance rationalisation, all have to interlock. When do you expect the consumption-boosting measures announced in Budget 2025–26, along with the 100-basis-point repo rate cut, to begin translating into tangible increases in aggregate demand? The effects of the coordinated stimulus measures are likely to begin to see traction sooner rather than later. Transmission of the repo rate cuts plus the abundant liquidity infused by RBI will help accelerate transmission more quickly than in the past. The dip in personal income tax collections in Q1 FY26 suggests that tax paying households are already seeing an increase in their disposable incomes. This too will accelerate over the next quarters. Other price and income support measures will also help boost demand. The transmission of monetary policy in India has often been delayed or uneven. What structural reforms do you think are necessary for better pass-through, and can policy be truly effective without them? Transmission of repo rate cuts and surplus liquidity in FY26 is likely to have been faster than in previous easing cycles. RBI data shows that the weighted average lending rate (WALR) on fresh rupee loans and outstanding rupee loans declined by 6 bps and 17 bps, respectively, during February-April 2025. This fall is likely to have accelerated during May and June, especially post the 50-bps repo rate cut, led by EBLR priced loans. With global central banks increasingly using forward guidance as a policy tool, why has the MPC been relatively cautious in providing explicit forward guidance? I disagree that in the current round of policy easing, global central banks have provided definitive forward guidance. Their statements are replete with phrases like 'meeting by meeting', 'without a pre-committed easing path', 'monitoring incoming data', 'assessing the current inflation situation', 'policy in a comfortable space', and similar cautious qualifiers on future policy actions. On the contrary, my own assessment is that since the start of the current rate easing cycle, our own MPC statements have been more confident on larger space opening up for rate cuts, given moderate inflation prints. Do you see signs of a pick-up in private capex? Which sectors are currently witnessing increased investment activities? As of H1 FY25, private capex was increasing, but remained concentrated in a few sectors. I remain confident that this is now becoming more broad-based, particularly in expansion of existing projects. The reduction of borrowing costs, and consequently increase in retained profits and cash flows, will hopefully also revive supply chain integrations for small and medium enterprises as large projects are implemented. There is clear evidence that Indians are increasingly shifting from traditional savings to investment-oriented financial instruments. What's your view on this trend? Depositors and investors are likely to assess the best expected returns on their savings, both in the near- and medium terms. They might be incorrect in their assumptions, but the shift towards markets over the past few years reflect the expected comparative higher returns. The more sophisticated investors also factor in post-tax returns in their investment decisions. I believe that the strong shift away from savings bank deposits might begin to moderate, yet the likely bank deposit rate cuts might moderate this shift back.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Time of India
Govt, industry, academia join hands to tackle rare earth magnet challenge
Government, industry and academia are working to resolve the issues concerning rare earth magnets , which are used in the automobile sector and other devices, a senior Meity official said on Friday. The technology exists to make rare earth magnets but to produce them at a commercially competitive rate is a challenge, ministry of electronics and IT, additional secretary, Amitesh Sinha said. Speaking on the sidelines of Tec-Verse event showcasing PSU technology research, Sinha said that to solve the issues concerning rare earth, all three partners - govt, industry and academia - are doing their work. "Technology is there, but we have to see how commercially we can do it at a competitive price. So that is the main challenge. Govt will surely work because these things are now becoming strategic and important," Sinha said. The Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology ( C-MET ), a research unit under Meity, at the event signed a transfer of technology agreement with Ahmedabad-based firm Somal Magnets for the production of rare earth magnets. Sinha said the work on the technology development has been going on for some years as the govt realises the importance of material technologies. "It is an effort of the last few years. So they (C-MET) have already been working on it, but suddenly the focus has come on this rare earth material. For such things, first we will have to develop a capability which, at the time of crisis, can be easily scaled. So that kind of infrastructure or capability we are aiming for now," Sinha said. He, however, said Meity is not directly engaged in the production of rare earth magnets but only in some technologies that are important for their production. In April 2024, China implemented strict export licensing on rare earth elements like terbium and dysprosium - key inputs for high-level performance NdFeB (Neodymium-Iron-Boron) magnets used in consumer electronics. The country's oldest electronics industry body, Elcina, said that the move has disrupted global supply chains, hitting India's fast-growing hearables and wearables sector hard, and the device makers are switching to import fully assembled speaker modules from China.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Time of India
Government, industry, academia working to resolve issues concerning rare earth magnets: Meity official
The government, industry and academia are working to resolve the issues concerning rare earth magnets, which are used in the automobile sector and other devices, a senior Meity official said on Friday. The technology exists to make rare earth magnets but to produce them at a commercially competitive rate is a challenge, Ministry of Electronics and IT, Additional Secretary, Amitesh Sinha said. Speaking on the sidelines of the Tec-Verse event showcasing PSU technology research, Sinha said that to solve the issues concerning rare earth, all three partners - government, industry and academia - are doing their work. "Technology is there, but we have to see how commercially we can do it at a competitive price. So that is the main challenge. The government will surely work because these things are now becoming strategic and important," Sinha said. The Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology ( C-MET ), a research unit under Meity, at the event signed a transfer of technology agreement with Ahmedabad-based firm Somal Magnets for the production of rare earth magnets. Sinha said the work on the technology development has been going on for some years as the government realises the importance of material technologies. "It is an effort of the last few years. So they (C-MET) have already been working on it, but suddenly the focus has come on this rare earth material. For such things, first we will have to develop a capability which, at the time of crisis, can be easily scaled. So that kind of infrastructure or capability we are aiming for now," Sinha said. He, however, said Meity is not directly engaged in the production of rare earth magnets but only in some technologies that are important for their production. In April 2024, China implemented strict export licensing on rare earth elements like terbium and dysprosium - key inputs for high-level performance NdFeB ( Neodymium-Iron-Boron ) magnets used in consumer electronics. The country's oldest electronics industry body, Elcina, said that the move has disrupted global supply chains, hitting India's fast-growing hearables and wearables sector hard, and the device makers are switching to import fully assembled speaker modules from China. Elcina estimates that the rare earth metal-based magnets account for around 5-7% of the Bill of Materials, and India imports nearly 100% of its NdFeB magnet requirement, with China accounting for 90% of the total imports. The industry body said prices of China-origin magnets have increased due to tightened supply and administrative bottlenecks, and alternate sources, such as Japan, the European Union and the US, are 2-3 times more expensive and also lack sufficient capacity to meet India's rising demand. Rare earth magnets include neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB). It is used for high-performance automotive applications such as traction motors in electric vehicles (two-wheelers and passenger vehicles) and power steering motors (in passenger vehicles) in both electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles.
