14 November,2022 07:30 AM IST | Mumbai | Anurag Kamble
On the admission portal, the address of Rao Junior College is the same as that of this eatery at Sion East. Pic/Rajesh Gupta
At least three junior colleges that took part in the latest centralised online admission exist only on paper as their space has been occupied by someone else, pointing to serious lapses by the education department. mid-day also came across several junior colleges listed in the admission process operating from the one-plus-one commercial shops or are surrounded by houses. When a reply was sought from the education department, they dodged the questions for days.
This newspaper extracted the data on the junior colleges from the website of the state education department.
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This college has its address at Jaybhadra Villa, SVP Road, Mandapeshwar, Borivli West. But mid-day could not locate the place. On phone, they said it has moved to the 4th floor at Shree Vallabh Society, above Pantaloons store, SV Road, Borivli West. The college is in a commercial complex.
A management official said, "We have been running this college for many years and a year ago we shifted the college to this location. We have all the permission to run the college. We have to check with the education department why it's not updated in the admission list. Our last year's examination was also conducted at this place only."
Rao Junior College, Sion, which was allotted 13 students for the academic year 2022-23 has cited its address as opposite SIES College, no. 16A1, 16A2, New Sindhi Colony, Sion West. But mid-day found a popular pizza joint there. The eatery employees said they have no idea if there was any college at the spot earlier. A security guard at the New Sion Colony, adjacent to the pizza joint, spoke on the condition of anonymity: "There was a Rao college here a couple of years ago. It got shifted but we don't know where." The college has mentioned 120 as its intake capacity.
A teacher who taught biology at the Sion college spoke off the records. "It was an integrated college where lectures were followed by coaching classes. It suddenly closed down in 2019 and we were not paid for two months. I still get calls from parents and students inquiring about the college, I don't know why my number has been shared with the education department as that of the contact person and still shows up on the admission portal," she said.
The address of Rao Junior College's Andheri branch is shown as Centre Square, SV Road, Andheri (W). When mid-day visited the place, we found some other private coaching centre had rented the space. Suryakant Choudhary, a teacher and the owner of the unit, said, "I had rented my two galas on the 4th floor to Rao IIT classes in 2008. Around 2018, they established a junior college on the same floor by renting a few more galas. Within a couple of years, they vacated the place where they didn't even pay the electricity bills."
The floor still has a board carrying notices of 2020 pinned by Rao Junior College. When Choudhary was told that his unit's address has been provided to the education department, he said, "I will get in touch with the department to make necessary changes."
Plot No. 21, Sector 7, Kharghar, is also an address of Rao Junior College on the 11th admission portal. mid-day found the shutters of the premises, located in a commercial complex, down. Neighbouring shopkeepers said it was closed "a couple of years" ago. "We still get queries about the college and some parents come here looking for it. We wonder how the address hasn't been updated or verified by the authorities," said one of them.
mid-day tried to contact Rao administration, including Vinaykumar Pandey, Yamini Rao and Dr BV Rao, but nobody responded. Emails sent to the addresses mentioned on their own website and provided to the education department remained unanswered.
Paresh Mahale said he admitted his son to the Thane Naupada branch in May 2019. "I thought my son would get college education as well as tuition for his IIT preparation. But like me, many parents got cheated as the college didn't function. We filed a police case against the directors in March 2022, but the education department hasn't even taken cognisance of it. In fact, it has given them extension till January 2023."
This institute has 7-8 classrooms and is run by a trust. It started a junior college last year and now has 7 students, all from the same school. Its trustee Virendrasingh Mishra said, "We have all permission to run the school and junior college. We are giving the best education in all possible manners⦠Our premises are small because we are self-financed."
The institute's address has been listed as New Link Road, IC Colony, Borivli West. found that the junior college was shifted to somewhere else last year. A private school has now come up at the location.
A member of the management said, "Class affiliated to two boards cannot run from the premises as per state government rules. So we shifted our school and college to Dahisar West now. We also informed the state government to update our address in the admission list. But next year our college name will come with the updated address."
Located at Amar Nagar, Mulund Colony, this place has five rooms for students from Hindi and Marathi medium as well as the junior college. Though included in the admission list, most of its students come through the offline route. The college administration refused to talk.
This school and college is located at Unit No. 32 of Aarey Milk Colony near the Film City, Santosh Nagar, Goregaon East. Its trustee Ruhina Chotaliya said, "We have been running this school for many years. We have only 4 students in junior college. Mostly our students take admission in our college. We are giving good education to all our students."
In Vikhroli, Saraswati Vidya Niketan Junior college of Science and Commerce is located at Upper Depot pada, Sagar Nagar, and is surrounded by houses. It is spread over five to six units, some of which sit above locals' homes. The staff said they will try to acquire more places whenever redevelopment happens.
Director Vishal Bandgar said, "The junior college has been registered with the education department since 2009. Then there were no criteria of having a minimum area. We have our own school from Std I to X hence we got the permission." About enrolment for 2022-23, Bandgar said, "We have got 100 admissions for science and commerce. Being a college from a slum pocket, most shift elsewhere, but those parents who can't afford fees and the cost of commute send their children to our college."
This place is in the vicinity of the national park. It can be accessed via a narrow lane through a slum. The college has just 1 room. The staff said, "The government gave us permission to run the junior college along with the school. We are trying to give the best education. We have only 7 students in junior college but we have the best teachers."
Sandeep Sangave, deputy director (education), didn't respond to specific questions over Rao Colleges and other junior colleges having no infrastructure at all. He said, "The dept. does carry out regular inspections but I have to check files before talking specifically about any college."
2009
When the junior college was registered with the edu dept.
120
Intake capacity of Rao Junior College, Sion branch
