Shiva, a 17-year-old student of Sri Vasavi Junior College, is sitting at home on Friday, instead of the examination hall for his English paper.
“On Wednesday, I was supposed to sit for my Sanskrit exam, and today for English. Now I am sitting at home helpless,” says Shiva.
Like Shiva, around 300 students of Sri Vasavi Junior College in Vanasthalipuram area of Hyderabad have been left in the lurch, as they did not get the hall tickets for their Intermediate exams. The college management had collected exam fees from the students, but did not pay the fees to the Board of Intermediate Education (BIE).
“On February 22, the college informed us that they will issue the hall ticket on the 27th. Then, they asked us to come the next day for the hall ticket. When we reached, they again asked us to come after 3pm. The same day we went there at 3pm and found the principal’s office locked,” said Rakesh, a student at the college.
The principal absconded as the pressure grew - and that’s because the was not accredited by the Board, a fact that the management blatantly lied about to students.
The Vasavi Junior College was started in 2016, and while the management told students that they were accredited with the Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education. They reportedly took an admission fee of Rs 10,000 from each student, and an examination fee of Rs 500.
“However, the college was not Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education affiliated, but they gave admission the students and took the money from them for admission and examination fees,” Inspector P Muralikrishna of the Vanasthalipuram police told TNM.
The principal, Srinivas Reddy, was arrested on Thursday along with the college’s managing partner Shyam Sundar Reddy after students and parents complained. “We have registered a case against both under section 420 for cheating and 406 (criminal breach of trust) of IPC,” the Inspector said.
“The students should have felt suspicious and approached us when they did not receive hall tickets for the two compulsory exams or at least when they did not give practical examinations. The students and parents blindly believed the principal when he told them that it is not a cause of worry,” Dr A Ashok, secretary, Board of Intermediate Education told TNIE.
Understandably, the students are heartbroken and anxious as they will not be able to give the exams now.
“Now that he has been arrested, we want our money back. Because of this we are left with no choice but to appear for exams in May. It is already a career loss for us, but all I can say is that, now I don’t want to miss the exams in May. However, strict action should be taken against him and we want our money back,” says Chandrakant, a student at the college.
“Like everybody else, I have also paid Rs 10,000 admission fees and Rs 500 examination fee, now the college has left me hanging,” says Shiva.
“All the students and their parents are worried about their career now. But we have no choice but to wait,” he adds.