Fine arts college fails to impress

It ought to be the place where the imagination is fired, skills are honed and creativity nurtured but as you walk into JNTU College of Fine Arts, Andhra Pradesh’s premiere art institute, there is very little beauty for the eye to behold. The dusty classes are filled with students but bereft of teachers, there are state-of-the-art computers but no one equipped with the ability to use them, the infrastructure is crumbling, the syllabus outdated and the faculty is lax.

Students, like Vaishali N. (name changed on request), now twiddle their thumbs waiting to graduate, “It feels like there is a war between the students and the teachers. If you raise your voice to differ with popular opinion, you lose marks. Personal grudges are taken out on exam papers.”

Facilities, both curricular and in the region of basic amenities, are not available. No demos are provided, there have been no visiting faculty and interaction between departments has been mysteriously prohibited. Vaishali adds, “I still don’t believe there was no designated loo for girls initially. We had to put up a board outside one. When we complained, we were told that there are no funds hence we don’t have proper facilities. In fact, much of the faculty is not familiar with their subject.”

Ganga Prakash, an ex-student, has mixed feelings, “It has been a year-and-a-half since I graduated. Even back then we would often reach college in the morning to find no one had turned up to teach us. And although, we were lucky to get computers, we had professors who did not know how to use them. But then again, it also depended on the student and how sincere he or she was.”

A. Sharif, who has been teaching history of art to under graduate students for 40 years, blames the government’s lack of initiative and attention, for the drawbacks, “JNTU has been functioning since 1940, and has churned out many prominent artists like Lakshma Goud and Vaikuntam. But what it lacks is a proper infrastructure. Posts have not been filled. Can you believe that the institute does not have a permanent post for a history of arts professor? The government should help modernise the institution.”

Ramesh Gorjala, artist and former student, says, “The faculty is not up to the mark and students don’t get to learn much. As a result their careers take a beating.”

Mahipal Reddy, superintendent from the administration, defends the institute, “This is a very old institute and only recently has it changed hands, so there are problems. Financial problems were caused by the inconsistent doling out of funds, by the government. Despite our proposal to fill various posts, the government has not sanctioned it. A lot of issues are hanging. They can’t be solved overnight.”