College teachers oppose move to introduce common syllabus in universities

Members of Joint Action Council of College Teachers (JAC) on Saturday observed a hunger strike in Madurai urging the State government to withdraw the move to introduce common syllabus in universities in Tamil Nadu.

Members of Joint Action Council of College Teachers (JAC) on Saturday observed a hunger strike in Madurai urging the State government to withdraw the move to introduce common syllabus in universities in Tamil Nadu.

The JAC members said the move would take away the autonomy of State universities. They said the common syllabus formed by the Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education (TANSCHE) was substandard compared with the existing syllabus of the universities. It was being introduced without consulting stakeholders, educationists and teachers’ associations, they said.

They said this would affect students as well as faculty. The inappropriate increase in the number of subjects for each semester without taking into account the existing semester pattern would increase academic stress. The changes in ancillary and practical subjects would result in a lot of changes in the workload of the teaching staff.

The JAC members urged the State to immediately withdraw the common syllabus. They also urged the State to issue an order for granting financial benefits under the career advancement scheme and pending arrears to the teachers of government-aided colleges. Further, they demanded that college teachers should be given M.Phil. and Ph.D. incentives as per norms.