In a setback for several candidates vying for government jobs, the higher education department has identified 58 undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) courses offered by various state-run universities and those outside the state as not equivalent to traditional programmes. This would render the students of such courses ineligible for public services employment.
The equivalence committee constituted by the higher education department recently declared BCom in Company Secretaryship awarded by the University of Madras as not equivalent to the BCom approved for public service. Similarly, the MSc in Medical Sociology offered by the aforementioned university has been declared non-equivalent to MA Sociology for public service. Similarly, the Master’s in Company Secretaryship and the BSc (Electronics) programme offered by Alagappa University are not equivalent to MCom and BSc Physics, respectively. Further, the MSc in Organic Chemistry and Applied Chemistry programmes offered by Bharathiar University are not equivalent to MSc in Chemistry. Further, the Master’s in Social Welfare Administration by Annamalai University is not equal to Master’s in Social Work. Likewise, MSc in Life Sciences offered by Bharathidasan University is not equivalent to MSc Zoology for government jobs.
Calling the move “completely unfair” and “inhumane”, TT Sundaram, an aspiring teacher, said, “I did my Master's in Applied Chemistry from Bharathiar University and thereafter, did PhD. But now as the equivalence committee has identified my PG course as non-equivalent for government jobs, my PhD holds no value. It is an irony that I cannot apply for any teaching position in any government college despite having a PhD."
Conservative estimates point to over 10,000 aspirants for government jobs as being affected by the order.
Aruna Viswanathan, another affected student, said, “I aspired to become a lecturer in a government institution all my life but in one go, the higher education department shattered all my dreams. The government should have checked the courses and its quality properly before granting its nod."
When contacted, higher education department officials reasoned that the list of non-equivalence courses was prepared by experts after a thorough review. "Declaring courses as non-equivalent with conventional courses is a regular affair. An expert committee was formed to look into the issue of equivalence and non-equivalence subjects and the list was prepared with utmost care," a senior official said.
