MADURAI: Stating that the credits for a UG paper in 'Professional English' are not being considered while calculating the overall percentage of credits, teaching faculty and students in the state have appealed to Chief Minister MK Stalin and Minister for Higher Education K Ponmudy to remove this course in the upcoming academic year
As per Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education (TANSCHE) announcement in the academic year 2020-21, all varsities in the state were asked to introduce 'Professional English' papers for UG I and II semesters.
Following this, students across non-autonomous state-run colleges have been studying this paper. According to sources, the score of this paper was not considered while calculating the overall percentage of credits.
"Though the name of the paper is 'Professional English', the English teachers working in many colleges did not handle the course. It was also not listed under the working hours of the teaching faculty in most non-autonomous colleges. It exists as an eye-wash," sources added.
Speaking to TNIE, K Vidhya, a B.Com II-year student of a non-autonomous college in Madurai said she had to learn the 'Professional English' course during both semesters last year, but the subject was rarely handled by the class teachers concerned.
"The same paper appeared by different names such as 'business correspondent' and 'Office Management'. Students are not clearly interested in studying this subject. So it is better to remove the subject from the syllabus," she said.
On request of anonymity, a teaching faculty working in a non-autonomous college said a total of four streams including A, B, C and D are available, where each stream has different subjects which are related to their major subjects.
"There are many variations regarding handling these subjects in every college. During the evaluation, the Science teaching staff refused to evaluate the paper. English teachers also refused to evaluate the paper. Students do not show any sincerity in answering the questions either. Teaching faculty have been forced to make the students qualify in the 'Professional English examination," he said.
Speaking to TNIE, Office bearer of Joint Action Council (JAC), S Suresh said, on behalf of JAC, they have already requested the state government to remove the course stating that it is highly advanced and that there is no need for UG students at this stage.
"At present, the Tamil Nadu government has ordered the state-run universities to impart skills-based courses under the 'Naan Mudhalvan' scheme. Hence, it is better to remove the 'Professional English' course in the upcoming academic year," he said.
Responding to the issue, an official from Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) said he will discuss the issue in the upcoming Board of Studies meeting in order to take necessary steps to remove the subject from the syllabus.