Telangana private colleges don't advertise toppers in media: TSBIE order

Hyderabad: The Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education (TSBIE) has asked private and corporate junior colleges to stop displaying the names of toppers in their advertisements on print and electronic media after the board announced the intermediate results 2020.

In order to attract students and parents, private and corporate junior colleges publish their results in print and electronic media and display their candidates as toppers/rankers of towns, mandals, districts, and state, the board said. This is against the board act of the college managements and attracts the Telangana Public Examinations (prevention of malpractice and unfair means) Act, 1997, according to TSBIE.

In an official circular released by TSBIE on 26 June, it said that action will be taken against private colleges if they give ads on print and electronic media claiming that a student belongs to a particular educational or coaching institution to which the student was never admitted. No person connected with an educational institution or a tutorial institution should offer or promise any guarantee of performance of success in public examination in advance as an inducement of admission into such institutions, the notice said. No person connected with an educational institution should publish false or misleading information relating to the success of the students in public examinations, it added.

According to the board, anyone who violates Sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 7A of the Telangana Public Examinations (prevention of malpractice and unfair means) Act 1997 will be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than three years and may extend up to seven years with a fine not less than Rs. 5,000 which may extend up to Rs. 1 lakh.

The secretary of TSBIE, Syed Omer Jaleel, has instructed all district intermediate education officers (DIEO) and nodal officers to immediately issue showcase notices to private junior college managements under their jurisdiction for such violations. TSBIE has also asked to submit a compliance report to the board regarding the same.

Mrs B. Jayaprada, a DIEO, said, "It's a very good initiative by the state intermediate board as many corporate and private junior colleges give out ads to print and electronic media after the announcement of results showing their rankers and toppers to attract parents and students. There are many good toppers in government junior colleges but we never seek publicity like private colleges. This year, too, we have many rank holders but we do not publicise it."

She said, "I heard of an incident in the state where a daughter of a vegetable vendor killed herself because she wanted to join a corporate college after watching advertisements on TV but her parents couldn't afford it. Similarly, many parents are attracted by these advertisements and enroll their kids in these colleges. I hope this initiative will help prevent student suicides in the state."

Mr. Madhusudhan Reddy, the president of the Government Junior Lecturer Association, also commended the state's decision and said it is a welcome move