Nobody will be happy about the closure of colleges, following clashes between students and the police in various parts of Madras. It seems that the students were dissatisfied with the Government's language policy in higher education, though one group of students did not agree with the dissatisfied majority. It is unfortunate that the Government’s policy hardened instead of softening. During the recent debate in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, the Chief Minister had said enough to indicate that the Government had no intention of relaxing its policy which now compels students in the Government colleges to use the Tamil medium. These students have been told that they will be given preference for all types of Government employment. This assurance may have reconciled some of the students to the Tamil medium, but as a survey by our staff reporter shows, the scope for Government employment is really very limited. The Tamil Nadu Government provides jobs for only about two hundred graduates by direct recruitment while the number of Tamil medium students who passed out last March was over 3,700. Another 2,000 students using the Tamil medium will graduate in science in March 1972. Many of these graduates will presumably apply for posts in the Group 3 and Group 4 services for which the thousands of students who complete the pre-university course and the school leaving certificate will also apply. Only one of 20 applicants is likely to be chosen.
