Tamil Nadu: Anna University suspends admissions to Tamil medium engineering courses, BJP criticises decision

Chennai: Anna University has decided to temporarily suspend admissions to Bachelor in Engineering (BE) courses in Civil and Mechanical streams offered in Tamil medium in 11 of its constituent colleges for the 2023-24 academic year. A circular pertaining to this decision dated May 20 was sent by the director of the university, S. Hosmin Thilagar.

Discontinuation of English Medium Courses too

According to the circular, civil and mechanical bachelor of engineering courses offered in English medium will also be discontinued this year at four constituent colleges.

BJP's Criticism of the Decision

BJP's Tamil Nadu chief, Annamalai K Annamalai, took to Twitter to criticize the university's decision. He pointed out that the decision was made despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's emphasis on imparting education in one's own mother tongue.

Demands for Explanation from DMK Government

The State BJP chief also demanded an explanation from the DMK government on this decision. He posted on Twitter, "When asked why these courses were discontinued, TN Higher Education Minister Thiru Ponmudi said these courses would continue to function if students seek admission. On behalf of @BJP4TamilNadu, we demand a suitable explanation from the @arivalayam govt on the efforts taken by the State government to promote Tamil medium engineering courses."

Reasons behind the Suspension

According to sources at Anna University, these courses are suspended owing to poor enrollment in the previous year.