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A teachers’ body representing several universities in Tamil Nadu has demanded the roll-back of the Tamil Nadu Private Universities (Amendment) Bill passed by the Assembly on Friday on the ground that the move was against the principle of education for all.
In a statement on Saturday, the Madurai Kamaraj, Manonmaniam Sundaranar, Mother Teresa, and Alagappa University Teachers’ Association (MUTA) said that since the 1970s, the government had greater control over higher education thanks to government institutions and government-aided ones. institutions. It was because of these institutions that the government could push its social justice policies such as 69% reservation for the oppressed classes of people.
The Bill allowed government institutions and government-aided institutions to be converted into private entities with little or no control of the government. While social justice policies of the government would no longer be applicable, it would also put to peril the services of teachers and non-teaching staff, the statement added.
Passing the Bill was akin to pouring hot water on the roots of a growing banyan tree. Recalling the resistance to a similar move by the government in 2008, the statement hoped that the present chief minister would roll back the Bill just as was done by his father then.