TSBIE asks colleges to follow guidelines

The Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education (TSBIE) has instructed all junior colleges to observe certain guidelines from the year 2018-19 onwards in order to be permitted to run hostels.

According to the TSBIE’s guidelines, separate infrastructure should be made available for boys and girls in the age group of 16 to 18 years. Every hostel should have sufficient safe drinking water. Water filters or RO purifiers should be installed at multiple locations on the hostel premises such as the kitchen, the dormitory, and recreational rooms. Hostels should adhere to the nutrition and diet scale and provide all students four meals a day, including breakfast. A nutritional expert should be consulted during the preparation of the menu to ensure that proper nutritional standards are maintained.

The hostel authorities should obtain a food safety certificate from the competent authority. Students should be provided special meals on holidays, festivals, sports days, cultural days, and during the celebration of national festivals. Students who are sick should be provided special meals according to the doctor’s advice and their dietary requirements. If students are seen to have any deficiencies during the monthly check-up, the menu should be revised accordingly.

Several students have complained about the lack of basic facilities in hostels. The new guidelines aim is to make sure that students have the opportunity to participate in recreational activities such as picnics, outings, indoor and outdoor sports, and meditation while living in college hostels. According to the guidelines, students should be free to meet their parents between 4.30 pm and 6 pm every day.