Students unhappy with govt talks on YISU-polytechnic merger

Polytechnic students in Hyderabad expressed dissatisfaction after talks with officials on the government’s move to merge polytechnics with the Young India Skills University under the Shakti department. They demanded revocation of GO MS 97, citing fears of arbitrary fee hikes and dilution of the decades‑old polytechnic system.

Hyderabad: Polytechnic students remained dissatisfied after discussions with government officials over the integration of polytechnics into the ambit of the Young India Skills University (YISU) under the Shakti department (formerly Labour department), stating that several of their questions were unanswered.

As students hit the streets demanding the government revoke the GO MS 97, which ordered the integration of polytechnics into the YISU ecosystem and framework, Commissioner of Technical Education A Sridevasena held discussions with them here on Saturday.

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Students from city colleges questioned the government’s decision to merge the decades-old polytechnic education system with a skill university being run under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. They sought to know why an education system with a long history was being dismantled.

A student who was part of the meeting said they raised a risk of fees being increased arbitrarily by the YISU as it runs under the PPP mode. Concerns were also raised on placing polytechnic education under the Labour department that could reduce the demand for polytechnic courses.

Students said they were informed that the government was developing YISU to international standards and that the merger would benefit them. 

“We asked why polytechnics should be brought under the YISU for skill improvement when the same can be done via the SBTET. For this, there was no response from officials,” they said. On ECET, students said the officials clarified that the lateral entry into undergraduate engineering programmes would be retained.

Questioning the Rs. 600 crore funding under the Shakti policy from the Central government, students said that they asked the State government to provide Rs. 300 crore this year and another Rs. 300 crore next year from its exchequers without merging polytechnics.

According to students, officials faced a series of questions from them and were unable to answer some of them. The Commissioner, as per students, would call for another round of discussion, if necessary, after Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy returns from his foreign tour.