Recently, Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi sparked controversy by claiming that the state’s curriculum significantly lags behind the one developed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). The ruling party quickly refuted his criticism. However, Tamil Nadu BJP State Secretary SG Suryah supported the Governor’s assessment, arguing that Ravi’s comparison was accurate. Suryah contended that the DMK leaders, who have styled themselves as patrons of education, have systematically undermined the education system, citing real-time examples to support his argument.
In a recent debate with a private Tamil news media channel on 2 August 2024, SG Suryah began the debate by clarifying a misconception spread by the opposition that the Governor had been accused of criticizing the entire Tamil Nadu education system, wherein he had merely compared the state curriculum with that of the NCERT. He then aimed the DMK, questioning why, if they support the SCERT, the DMK‘s family-owned schools do not follow the SCERT or the state board’s Samacheer Kalvi syllabus but instead adhere to the national CBSE curriculum based on NCERT.
Suryah also noted that in 2020, the BJP had published a list of 50 schools run by DMK leaders in Tamil Nadu, all of which were CBSE schools and did not follow the SCERT curriculum. From this, it’s clear what they consider to be the best.
Suryah criticized the situation with an example from the commerce course, despite the Companies Act being updated in 2013, Tamil Nadu students continued to study the outdated 1956 Act until 2018.
Suryah criticized the current student-to-teacher ratio in government-run schools. He remarked, “For example, in the old days, Abdul Kalam, Shivan, and others studied in government schools. During those periods, the question remains how many private schools were there, but most were government-run schools. However, today we want to ask what the conditions of government-run schools are. Now in Chennai, if you send me a reporter to visit any government school, we shall visit all 100 government schools. In every school, there is a shortage of necessary teachers for the students. I can provide you with the details, in Ambattur’s 93 wards government school, 300 students are studying in 11th and 12th grades, and only two teachers to teach all subjects. This is a significant shortage.”
Suryah then accused the self-styled DMK education patrons of being responsible for the state of despair in the education system. Suryah said, “After all DMK leaders became the patrons of education, the quality of government schools and colleges has been declining. An example of this can be seen with Tiruvannamalai, where the people have long demanded the opening of a government law college, as there was no law college. Instead of opening a government law college, a DMK senior leader obtained government special permission to start a private law college. During a recent visit to Chidambaram, I noticed that the old university there has closed many courses. The complaint from there is, that public college courses are being scrapped to make way for admissions in private DMK-run colleges, such tragedies are taking place.”
தி.மு.க தலைவர்கள் பலர் கல்வித் தந்தைகளாக மாறி, தாங்கள் நடத்தும் பள்ளி, கல்லூரிகளை மேம்படுத்துவதில் மட்டுமே குறியாக இருப்பதால் தமிழக அரசு பள்ளி, கல்லூரிகளின் நிலை கவலைக்கு இடமாக உள்ளது!#மாலைமுரசு விவாதம்… pic.twitter.com/3xeGnUwcYW
— Dr.SG Suryah (@SuryahSG) September 5, 2024
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