Uniform syllabus: HC strikes down amendment

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Monday struck down the amendment made to Section 3 of the TN Uniform School Syllabus System, holding that it was a “colourable exercise of power” by the state government. The First Bench comprising Chief Justice MY Eqbal and Justice TS Sivagnanam issued the order after hearing a bunch of writ petitions supporting and opposing the amendment. The bench said the government has “exceeded its powers” by the amendment, which deferred implementation of the system by a year.“An Amending Act, which has the effect of repealing the Parent Act under the guise of postponement of its implementation, when in fact the Parent Act has already been implemented, the Amending Act has to be held to be an arbitrary piece of legislation,” the bench ruled. The State has sought to achieve indirectly what could not be achieved directly in view of the judgment of a division bench upholding the validity of the Parent Act, the bench noted.Also holding that the amendment was unconstitutional, the bench directed the government to forthwith distribute the textbooks printed under the Uniform School Education (USE) to enable teachers to commence classes. The court said the distribution should be completed on or before July 22. In terms of the recommendations made by the committee constituted pursuant to the direction of the Supreme Court, the syllabus and textbooks should be reviewed and the objectionable portions deleted, it said.The portions which were required to be included as per the suggestions might be added and supplied to the students in the form of an additional booklet within a reasonable time, preferably three months, it said.The bench also directed the government to separate the approved textbooks from those already submitted.Concluding its 81-page order, the bench hoped and trusted that every endeavour would be made by the State to implement the USE.The USE system was introduced by the DMK government for classes I and VI last year. After the AIADMK government came to power in May, Section 3 of the Act was amended to defer the implementation of the Act. A committee that examined USE and the textbooks, in its report submitted to the HC on July 5, said the books were of poor quality.