Hyderabad: Charming world of typewriting centres

Around 50 of these learning institutes exist in Hyderabad’s learning hubs

Hyderabad: In this era, where high-end computers and laptops are used right from learning to execution of any work, there still exist typewriting institutes offering the regular courses to the students in the city.

Once very popular with almost every residential area boasting of at least two to three typewriting institutes, latest advancements with newer paraphernalia, mainly computers, are yet to make these learning centres completely redundant. “The number of typewriters and institutes have come down but they are yet to become a part of history. Rather we can say, we are fighting for survival. Candidates are enrolling but the numbers are not encouraging as it used to be earlier,” said Vamshi of Vision Institute of Typewriting and Shorthand, located at Ameerpet. A hit amongst the student community until the computers, and later laptops, took over the workload in the offices, the institutes were in a great demand for decades.

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In fact, the institutes admitted candidates in batches starting from 6 am and classes continuing till midnight in some pockets of the city. The SETWIN institute at Motigalli was a hit among the job seekers until a decade ago. “We are no longer offering the course. Instead, we have some computer courses, including MS Office,” said Venkateshwarlu, In-charge of SETWIN Motigalli. “A handful of youngsters enrol for three courses – lower speed, high speed and super higher speed. Children of government employees who are aware of the government vacancies and necessity of holding a typewriting qualification certificate are enrolling their children,” explains Satyanarayana, a retired government servant, who runs Sudha Typewriting Institute at Karwan. In the city, there are around 50 institutes still running the show.

These are located at Ameerpet, Secunderabad, Dilsukhnagar, and Falaknuma, among other areas. A fee between Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 a month is charged for a six-month course. “We have candidates who have completed their graduation or post-graduation and are preparing to get a job in IT and ITES companies. Certain companies prefer candidates who have a good typing speed for it helps in better handling of computer keypad,” said Mohd Dastagir of MS Typewriting Institute at Hafeez Babanagar. The State Board of Technical Education and Training conducts examination twice a year in July and December.

The manufacturing of the typewriters has also been impacted drastically. “Now, a few technicians at Ramkote repair or rebuild the machines and sell in the market,” added Dastagir.