In an age where education has become increasingly business-oriented, a college has set an example by urging students not to enrol themselves in it and jeopardise their future.
Facing shortage of staff, a grant-in-aid college in Sabarmati, which is awaiting permission to shut down, advised students to take admissions elsewhere. According to a report, the management of the college went to the extent of putting up a notice at the entrance, informing admission seekers that the institution isn’t financially equipped to educate them.
Constructed in 1968, the college building is also in an unsafe condition.
The government’s apathy in matters of education screams out here, for nothing had been done to make the college functional with timely grants.
Pictures of the notice and a letter from the commissioner of higher education have gone viral.
According to the notice by the Sabarmati Arts and Commerce College, the institution does not have a principal and 22 teaching positions have been vacant for a decade.
The report said that the college had been functioning with one clerk as non-teaching staff and one peon. It has emerged that it has struggled with essential tasks such as conducting the admission process, assessing answer sheets, and preparing mark sheets.
The report added that a trustee of the college, Falguni Upadhyay, lodged a complaint with the Prime Minister’s Public Grievances Redress and Monitoring System (PMOPG), which is yet to approve its application for shutdown since September 2022.
Upadhyay was quoted as saying, “The college does not have a principal, and has only four teachers. There are only two non-teaching employees including a peon and a clerk who manage everything. Before 2008, the college worked on full staff strength and enrolled 1,200 students. Later, problems cropped up. Most faculty members have retired or left the college. Despite repeated requests, the education department neither provides us staff nor gives us the go-ahead to close down.”
She added, “We have been trying to convince parents and students to not opt for admissions here as we lack most facilities.”
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