A cross-section of teachers of colleges and universities has expressed opposition to the Tamil Nadu Private Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which was passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Tuesday (September 8, 2026) last.The teachers, belonging to different associations, said the passing of the Bill will lead to commercialisation of education and undermine the State-run education system meant to provide scope for the general public to pursue higher education.The amendment Bill seeks to relax certain conditions required to set up private universities in the State. The land requirements, for example, have been cut by half. The amendment seeks to reduce the land requirement to 12 acres in Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) area from an earlier 25 acres, 18 acres in other municipal corporations and municipal councils, and 25 acres in the rest of the areas. The Bill also sought to bring down the permanent endowment fund to ₹25 crore from a previous ₹50 crore.In a statement, S. Suresh, general secretary, Tamil Nadu Government College Teachers Association, pointed out that for years, adequate funds have not been provided to State-run universities where the underprivileged children could pursue higher education at affordable rates. For over a decade, permanent faculty members have not been appointed to these universities. While the union government seeks to centralise and commercialise education through the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, the State government too was indifferent towards improving the State-run education system, he charged.Besides, admissions to doctoral research programmes in government and government-aided colleges have not been permitted for the past five years. Also, since the Act came into force in 2019, eight private universities were approved, seven of which got approval during the previous regime. “The legislative amendments make it evident that both the past and the present governments are on the same page over commercialisation of higher education,” he added.The All India Save Education Committee has said that the amendments amount to the State government rapidly accelerating commercialisation of education to align with market forces and the National Education Policy, 2020. Published - September 10, 2026 04:19 pm IST