Telangana junior colleges to come under CCTV watch

The Intermediate Education Department is installing CCTVs and facial recognition systems across government junior colleges to ensure discipline and improve attendance. Meanwhile, the academic year is beginning without textbooks, with distribution expected to finish by early June 2025

Hyderabad: The Intermediate Education Department will soon have its eyes and ears in every classroom of all government junior colleges (GJCs) across Telangana. In a move aimed at increasing accountability and ensuring academic discipline, the department has decided to bring all GJCs under a comprehensive CCTV surveillance system.

This first-of-its-kind initiative includes the installation of 5,000 high-resolution cameras covering entire campuses and classrooms. Each of the 430 GJCs will be equipped with 10 to 15 CCTV cameras, with one or two cameras installed per classroom based on size and student strength.

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In addition to standard surveillance systems that support only video streaming, select classrooms will be equipped with interactive CCTVs, enabling officials to communicate live with students and faculty. These will be operated via a newly established Command Control Centre at the Telangana Government Board of Intermediate Education (TGBIE).

All cameras will be connected to the command centre, allowing classrooms to be monitored in real time. “Apart from other advantages, the initiative will ensure there is no unauthorised absenteeism among lecturers,” a senior official said.

Further, lecturers will now be required to submit a three-month teaching schedule in advance, detailing their period- and day-wise plans. These schedules will be closely monitored by department officials.

Another initiative to be rolled out soon is the installation of interactive flat panels in about 200 GJCs. These digital boards will be used not only for regular classroom teaching and screening educational content, but also for hosting online interactive sessions with subject experts.

Facial recognition to monitor attendance

In another tech-driven move, Telangana’s government junior colleges are set to introduce a facial recognition-based attendance system to improve student presence. If a student skips college for a movie, cricket match, or outing with friends, parents will be alerted via SMS or WhatsApp. The Intermediate Education Department decided to introduce the Facial Recognition System (FRS) after data revealed that, on average, 40 percent of students skipped classes during the last academic year.

New Academic Year Begins Without Textbooks

Even as the new academic year begins, students — especially second-year intermediate students in GJCs — have commenced classes without textbooks. In a statement on Wednesday, the Intermediate Education Department said that second-year textbook printing would be completed by the first week of June 2025. First-year textbook printing has already been completed by Telugu Akademi and is currently being dispatched to colleges. Officials expect the books to be available for students by the first week of June. “Special officers have been assigned to coordinate with college principals to ensure timely delivery,” the department said.