Kothagudem: Paloncha TSWRS, Junior College excel in education, sports

Govt educational institutions have turned into centres of excellence and are competing with corporate educational institutions in terms of standards

Kothagudem: Gone are the days when government-run educational institutions, especially residential ones, were notorious for pathetic infrastructure and lack of quality in academics.

Now, with the Telangana government laying emphasis on quality education and better infrastructure, government educational institutions have turned into centres of excellence and are competing with corporate educational institutions in terms of standards.

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Established 28 years ago, Telangana State Social Welfare Residential School (TSWRS) and Junior College at Laxmidevipalli of Paloncha mandal in the district has been achieving excellent results in academics as well as in the field of sports of late.

The institute has got very successful alumni, which includes 48 doctors, scores of engineers, many in the software field, three scientists and numerous government employees. Many of the students who studied in the institute have also settled abroad in good positions.

The Telangana government upgraded the institute as a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in 2019 and soon enough, the institute became sought-after among parents in the district.

“There is much competition for admissions into the institute,” Principal Dr K Venkateshwarlu, who worked as PGT (Social Science) in the school when it was established, said.

The school, with Classes V to X, was established in 1994 and the junior college was started in 1996. At present, the institute has a strength of 640 students, of which 480 students are in high school. The school and college have an average pass percentage of above 95, he informed.

Study hours start at 5.30 am under the supervision of a dedicated team of teachers. Special training is being given to students of Class VIII and above for competitive examinations like EAMCET, IIT (JEE), NEET and others.

Six students of the institute qualified in Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT1), a test conducted by the College Board, to validate students seeking admission in undergraduate courses overseas, and are preparing for SAT2. Passports are being readied for them, Venkateshwarlu told Telangana Today.

The high school students are being taught using mobile tabs and the computer lab for a better understanding of subjects. The food menu prescribed by the government is followed strictly and the quality of the food is monitored daily.

Several students have excelled in the district, State and national level sports events. A student, Bhasker Naik won the silver medal in 10-km walking in a recent youth meet at Nalgonda. A Youth Parliament is conducted every year in the institute to give them political knowledge, he noted.

An alumnus of the institute, Dr E Babu Rao who runs a private hospital in Kothagudem, stated that his intermediate education in the college and EAMCET coaching given by the teachers helped him to secure an MBBS seat.