MADURAI: Senior academicians and save higher education voices from Madurai had posed a few questions to the Tamil Nadu State government today on why it is in a hurry to implement a common syllabus for all universities and colleges in the State when the process of formulating a distinct, unique, separate education policy for Tamil Nadu is now going on.”The advise of Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education (TANSCHE) to follow common uniform syllabus in all universities and colleges across Tamil Nadu is nothing but suppression of democracy among academia. While a separate education policy is being developed now, it is not clear why the State government wants to go with One Nation One Curriculum? The motive of government is questionable,” Prof.Dr.R.Murali had questioned on behalf of coordinators working to save higher education, in a press statement issued from Madurai on July 21st 2023.
Prof.Dr.R.Murali had demanded that no changes should be imposed or made in educational programmes until the education policy of Tamil Nadu is formed and finalized. “We request the Tamil Nadu State government to withdraw the common syllabus idea immediately because subject experts will be denied the participation in curriculum designing. If there is a common syllabus being imposed by TANSCHE, what is the need for Board of Studies in universities and colleges to prepare a syllabus for subjects once in three years? If that is the case, more than 500 Board of Studies in universities will get dissolved,” he pointed out in the press release.
The coordinators of ‘MAKKAL KALVI KOODIYAGAM’ from Madurai have expressed today that common syllabus is a denial of democracy of higher education.
“The UGC only suggests but not insists on sticking to the syllabus. Tamil Nadu has the largest number of autonomous colleges and innovative syllabus is being introduced and adopted after approval from Academic Council and Syndicate of universities. The common syllabus will disable their academic freedom and autonomous colleges will suffer. The common syllabus decision will pave way for future governments to impose their own ideology through singe gate operation called common syllabus,” Prof.Dr.R.Murali and coordinators Prof.V.Arasu, Prof.Sivakumar, GanaKurinji and Uma Maheswari, have cautioned the TANSCHE and Tamil Nadu government from Madurai today- on July 21st 2023.
