A parallel college was a privately owned educational institution in
Kerala
Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
(a state of
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
) that was neither affiliated with nor recognized by any
university
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
, but that offered unofficial training following the courseware of a university. This system worked, in that most of the universities in Kerala allowed "private registration", in which a student could register in a university for a course, then pursue an academic programme without being admitted to a college or a university department. Students could learn the course material by themselves, then appear for examination at the university. Such students who pursued a 'private study' often relied on parallel colleges for tuition and guidance. The system was popular in Kerala because the total intake capacity of the affiliated colleges were insufficient to accommodate the aspirants for higher (tertiary) education.
Parallel colleges were always small-scale institutions with very limited facilities. They offered training only in 'arts' (social sciences and literature) or 'commerce' faculties (BA, B.Com, MA, M.Com) and never in 'science' or 'technical' faculties. This was because science courses required lab facilities.
Demise
Parallel colleges were very popular and were, in fact, centres of education for the masses in the 1970s through 1990s.
They were also a source of employment for many. But by the end of the 2000s this system has come to an end, following the state's opening of the higher education sector to private investors, which caused a surge in the number of private engineering colleges and other privately owned professional colleges, thus leaving many of the conventional (affiliated) degree colleges under-populated, elimnating the reason for the parallel system.
Tutorial colleges
Tutorial colleges are institutions similar to parallel colleges with more limited scope. While parallel colleges impart full training to its students, tutorial colleges merely supplement the lessons given by colleges or schools.
References
External links
*
*
*
*{{usurped,
Parallel colleges flay higher fee for private registration, Sep. 2006}
Types of university or college
Colleges in Kerala