MADURAI: Joint Action Council of College Teachers (JAC) Convener M Nagarajan urged the state government to withdraw Tamil Nadu State Council of Higher Education's (TANSCHE's) 'common syllabus'. He said the council would continue their protest until it is withdrawn.
While addressing the press, Nagarajan said the 'common syllabus', which is forcibly imposed by TANSCHE on all Higher Education Institutions, takes away the autonomy of UGC and violates the Tamil Nadu Universities Act.
He further stated that following the JAC's hunger strike, TANSCHE invited JAC members on July 12 to inform them that there is no need to follow this syllabus in varsities and assure that a circular regarding this would be sent to the state universities. "However, a circular, opposing the Universities Act and the promise made by the authorities, was sent to all state-run universities demanding them to follow the common syllabus. There is no common syllabus in most of the developed countries in education. For language subjects like Tamil and English, a common syllabus is out of the question," he said.
Further questioning the state government, Nagarajan asked why the government is trying to impose an outdated syllabus without conducting a state holders' meeting. "Most of the subject titles are similar, and allegedly an exact copy from Wikipedia. The state government is preparing its own state education police, but it is not released yet. In this context, why is it trying to implement this syllabus all of a sudden," Nagarajan questioned.
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He also stated that the JAC has decided to hold serious protests continuously to demand the withdrawal of the 'common syllabus' imposed on higher education institutions. "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," he added.
JAC office bearers V Ravi, J Gandhiraj, AT Senthamarai Kannan, and Xavier Selvakumar also accompanied him and shared their opinions.