Telangana HC hears PIL against private junior colleges for holding classes during summer break

The PIL was filed by a practicing advocate Bandela Kranthi Kumar, seeking directions to the private intermediate colleges not to conduct classes, physical or virtual, during the holidays declared in the annual academic calendar issued by the TG BIE

Hyderabad: The division bench of Telangana High Court’s vacation bench comprising justices Surepalli Nanda and J Srinivas Rao on May 7 heard public interest litigation (PIL) against private junior colleges flouting guidelines pertaining to conducting classes during summer vacation and posted the case for next Wednesday.

The vacation bench took up the PIL as lunch motion against private junior colleges in Telangana conducting physical and online classes during the summer vacation, violating the stipulated academic calendar announced by the Telangana Board of Intermediate Education (TG BIE).

The PIL was filed by a practicing advocate and public-spirited person Bandela Kranthi Kumar, represented by his counsel CR Sukumar, seeking directions to the private intermediate colleges not to conduct classes, physical or virtual, during the holidays declared in the annual academic calendar issued by the TG BIE.

The petitioner sought directions from the High Court to prevent the private junior colleges from conducting classes illegally during Sundays, public holidays and summer vacation.

The vacation court bench heard the submissions of the petitioner’s counsel and the Telangana government’s counsel who sought time to file their counter.

Special government pleader from the office of the Advocate General submitted to the court that no private junior college in the State was conducting academic classes during the summer vacation.

However, he said the intermediate board will not have control over private educational institutions running tuitions and coaching classes during the summer vacation.

The petitioner’s counsel submitted to the vacation court bench that the intermediate board has through an academic calendar stipulated holidays to ensure holistic growth of students, preserve their mental health and allow them to rejuvenate between rigorous academic sessions.

The petitioner’s counsel also brought to the notice of the bench that even courts have vacations during summer, primarily aimed at better mental health and effective functioning.

Excessive academic sessions without mandated breaks lead to enormous stress, mental health ailments, burnouts, anxiety, depression and even suicidal tendencies amongst students, the petitioner’s counsel submitted to the Court, citing a March 2023 study by the Telangana intermediate board itself.

The authorities, who are duty bound to strictly supervise the functioning of private intermediate colleges by regular inspections, have remained mute spectators and were giving a free hand to private colleges to exploit students, the petitioner’s counsel argued.

The petitioner through his PIL has urged the court to direct the respondents to establish a grievance redressal mechanism, which includes a confidential helpline and online complaint portal, for students to bring the violations to the notice of the authorities for taking prompt action.

The petitioner’s counsel, who argued for the holistic growth and better future of the students, submitted that the petitioner has received numerous appeals from the students on the gross violations by the private intermediate colleges across Telangana.

The vacation bench refused to pronounce any interim orders without going through the counter to be filed by the respondents and accordingly posted the case for further hearing on next Wednesday.