MADURAI: Association of University Teachers (AUT) General Secretary R Saravanan in his press statement welcomed the Tamil Nadu Council for Higher Education (TANSCHE's) common syllabus and said it will improve the quality of education.
In the press statement, R Saravanan further said TANSCHE is now active in bringing uniformity in curriculum with a view of nurturing the standard of higher education in the state. While the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 formulates a commonality in the curriculum at the national level, there is nothing wrong with TANSCHE taking the initiative in the same direction, particularly in the context of the state's initiative in enunciating a distinct state policy for education, he added.
He further stated that the AUT appreciates the laborious academic exercise by TANSCHE in framing the common curricula for various disciplines, with a premium of 25% to be incorporated by the Board of Studies (BoS) of the universities concerned.
"In fact, a few universities, including Bharadhidasan University, Tiruchy, declared that since they had already adopted the TANSCHE-model syllabus, there is no need to revise the content now. As of now, there have been no hiccups in accepting TANSCHE's initiative in framing educational policies in the state. Yet, there is a criticism on the syllabus content of the certain discipline as being 'sub-standard', which duly needs to be addressed by the TANSCHE," he said, adding that AUT rejects the criticism that the autonomy of the universities would be eroded due to TANSCHE's intervention.
He also welcomed its effective and extended proactive intervention in other areas such as single-window admission of students in the arts and science colleges, determination of fee-fixation in aided and self-financing colleges, and for courses, and necessary amendments to the archaic Tamil Nadu Private Colleges Regulation Act,1976, teething the Prohibition of Capitation Fee(Educational Institutions) Act, 1992 to prevent excess fee collection by private colleges, timely implementation of students' admission guidelines.
It is unfortunate that the Laws of the State Universities have been treated shabbily by the powers in the appointment of vice-chancellors and the conduct of convocation on time, he added.