BU Will Work For Courses In Tamil
Bharathiar University will work towards offering its undergraduate and post-graduate courses in the Tamil medium of instruction, its Vice-Chancellor G. Thiruvasagam said here on Sunday. Addressing presspersons, he said all courses of the university and its affiliated colleges would be introduced in the vernacular language. “It will run alongside those in English. This proposal is basically aimed at mitigating the fear of the English language that deters many students from pursuing higher education.”His recent visit to the universities and colleges in China along with a team of college secretaries and principals had the Vice-Chancellor come up with such a proposal
His recent visit to the universities and colleges in China along with a team of college secretaries and principals had the Vice-Chancellor come up with such a proposal. “The strength of the Chinese students lies in the fact that they learn the subjects in their mother tongue. Language is not a barrier for learning the subject. English is learnt as a language.” Justifying the introduction of Tamil as the medium of instruction, he said, “When there are so many job opportunities in our State, why should we insist on learning English to get better jobs outside. We are cheating ourselves by believing that knowledge of English is the only factor that determines good placements.”
Later speaking , he said the State Government was already in the process of preparing certain textbooks in Tamil. “We will have to get all the textbooks ready for the proposal to take off soon. This is one of the efforts to increase access to higher education, employable education and also enrichment of the local language.” Referring to the statistics released by the State Government that 78 per cent of students completing their Plus Two were from the Tamil medium, he said the stimulus to study in Tamil would urge such students to take up higher education.
In the coming academic year, the Vice-Chancellor proposed to set up a committee comprising representatives – working or retired – from various departments to bring out at least 20 textbooks. “There is a misconception that only conventional subjects can be offered in Tamil. This is a myth that should be busted. All science subjects and even latest specialised subjects like nanotechnology should be offered in the vernacular language. Also, we will appeal to the Information Technology organisations to help prepare computer language in Tamil. Everything will be done to ensure that Tamil medium students do not have any apprehensions in selecting any course,” the Vice-Chancellor added.
The university would also start training-oriented diploma programmes in its colleges. It would be offered both in English and Tamil. “Skilled students should not be forced to extend their study period to three years when they can do it with a six-month or one-year diploma programme,” Mr. Thiruvasagam said.
31.03.2008.
