Students joining the government junior colleges in Telangana will not have to pay a single rupee as fee from this year and they will also be supplied textbooks free of cost. The decision, which would bring cheers to 1.15 lakh students expected to study in the government junior colleges, was announced by Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Kadiyam Srihari here on Wednesday. However, the facility would be applicable only to Telangana students.
He said Telangana State was the first to take such a student-friendly decision in the entire country. The State was likely to be burdened with Rs. 9 crore per year from free education and another Rs. 6 crore from the free distribution of books. As of now, a student admitted to science course paid Rs. 893 while an Arts student paid Rs. 535 as the tuition fee.
The books would be distributed by July 31 to English, Telugu and Urdu medium students. Mr. Srihari said he expected another 15,000 additional students to join government colleges from the existing 1.15 lakhs in both first and second year. The government, he said, had also decided to construct permanent structures for all the 402 junior colleges.