The DMK government is receiving a tough opposition in Tamil Nadu over its attempt to implement a common syllabus for higher educational institutes in the state.
The Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education (TANSCHE) announced in March that all colleges and universities in the states will follow one syllabus.
However, the move has received an uproar from the teachers, colleges and universities who are protesting it and demanding withdrawal of the move. They have also pointed out that the government’s move contradicts the DMK’s stance against the National Education Policy (NEP) implemented by the Centre.
What is the Issue over Common Syllabus?
TANSCHE, in March, announced that colleges will have the autonomy to modify 25% of the course while 75% of the curriculum would be uniform across the state. TANSCHE was given the task of developing the common syllabus in universities.
Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy argued that the decision was taken to help students move from one college to another, if they wished. He said all arts and science colleges, irrespective of the university they were affiliated to, would follow the same syllabus.
Teachers, however, are against the move saying that the revised syllabi were outdated and they were not consulted while drafting the syllabi.
Tamil Nadu Government College Teachers Association said that the syllabus proposed by the TANSCHE is very obsolete. T Veeramani, president of the Tamil Nadu Government College Teachers Association, said, “I am on the syllabus board. The common syllabus for my subject, Psychology, is absurd. It is at least 10 years old. I have registered my dissent with Bharathiar University and suggested that the Council revisit the syllabus.”
The state’s Joint Action Council of College Teachers (JAC) said the move would take away the autonomy of State universities, takes away the autonomy of UGC and violates the Tamil Nadu Universities Act.
The JAC also said that the common syllabus formed by TANSCHE was substandard compared with the existing syllabus of the universities and was being introduced without consulting stakeholders, educationists and teachers’ associations.
Opposition in the State
JAC members, comprising university faculty and government college teachers, are protesting the government’s move to impose the common syllabi and said the council would continue their protest until it’s withdrawn.
Earlier this month, it observed a hunger strike in Madurai urging the government to withdraw. The group also demanded that the universities be given the autonomy to frame syllabi.
The JAC has also threatened to hold serious protests continuously and announced they would return the TA and DA paid to them by TANSCHE.
“On July 21, the JAC members will stage a protest in front of the state universities, following which, on July 25, the JAC members will return the TA/DA paid to them by TANSCHE during a talk. Further course of action will continue based on TANSCHE’s decision," JAC Convener M Nagarajan said.
DMK Govt Opposed NEP
The DMK government had opposed the NEP and said that the policy would not be implemented in the state.
While opposing the centre’s policy, the DMK had said Tamil Nadu would come out with its own education policy. Tamil Nadu officials said that the common syllabus was distinct from that policy, which was in its early stages.
According to a report in The Indian Express, the DMK opposed the NEP as it said that a common education policy for the country is a “fraud on the Constitution” as education is a state subject. It also argued that NEP gives more importance to Sanskrit over Tamil and is against the poorer sections of society.