Teachers Warn Against Tamil Nadu Varsity Bill

Hyderabad: The Tamil Nadu government’s plan to amend the Private Universities Act (2019) to allow aided colleges to convert into private universities has triggered unrest among the teaching community, which sees the move as a threat to affordable education and public accountability.

“This is not just a Tamil Nadu issue. Once this model spreads, every public university in India may lose its character,” said N. Praveen, a professor at a university in the city. “Converting aided colleges into private universities means selling off institutions built with people’s money.”

The bill aims to ease land and approval requirements, paving the way for existing aided colleges to be converted into private universities. Teachers warn the proposal could end job security, pensions and the equality they currently enjoy with state employees. “We are already facing insecurity due to contract appointments and delayed grants,” said V. Bhanu Prakash, a lecturer at a private-aided college in Secunderabad. “Privatization will worsen conditions for both staff and students.”

Members of the All India Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organizations (AIFUCTO) termed the change as “a dangerous step that will push higher education into profiteering”. The federation urged other states to oppose similar policies, warning that “when aided colleges are privatised, education will become a privilege rather than a right”.

Faculty associations in Hyderabad supported AIFUCTO’s stand. “Many of our colleges were also built with public donations and community contributions,” said a member of the Telangana State University Teachers Federation. “We fear that the same idea will take root here under the guise of reform.”

Teachers’ unions are set to submit a joint memorandum to the Telangana higher education department to take safeguards for the aided sector. “Education should never be a job,” said a professor from Osmania University. “The bill may have come from Tamil Nadu but its consequences will reach us all.”