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Today there are Tamils in over 50 countries. These include not only people who migrated a few generations ago but also those who moved out recently to seek a career abroad. These people are very keen on teaching Tamil, their mother tongue, to their children. They also want their children to learn the Tamil traditions, the Tamil way of life and much more. However, in most countries, opportunities for learning the above language are very few or non-existent. For example, Tamils in Mauritius, and South Africa can sing devotional songs but cannot read or write Tamil. The basic objective of this university is to provide the opportunity for these people to learn the language and also about Tamil literature, tradition, etc.
The first Tamil Internet (TI) conference was held in Singapore in the year 1997. Different people were using different fonts and different keyboards. In this conference it was resolved to standardise the fonts and keyboards and this task was entrusted to the Government of Tamil Nadu. The next conference was held in Chennai and more than 500 computer experts participated in it. In this conference, standardisation was discussed by the experts. In addition, it was suggested that Tamil should be taught through the Internet. This was accepted by the then CM and he announced that a virtual Tamil university to teach the basics to advanced courses including research, would be launched. To promote this venture, a high level committee headed by Vice-Chancellor V. S. Kulandaiswamy was set up. A Tamil Virtual University Club was started and was registered in May 2000. I assumed office as Director in July. The university was inaugurated by the then CM.
We started with two divisions, education and library. Education was divided into certificate, diploma, post diploma and degree courses. Out of these, basic and intermediate certificate courses are fully operational. For the diploma and the degree courses, the syllabi are still under preparation.
The response has been good. 3000 people, from 58 countries, have registered so far. Access to the library was free, initially; but from Feb 6, 2002, access is restricted to paid subscribers. I hope there will be very good response for this too. We also have plans for setting up contact centres in a number of countries. We have plans to conduct exams through these contact centres. I visited South Africa and Mauritius in this connection. We will be visiting other countries shortly to meet interested parties and set up contact centres.
I found out personally, during my visits, that Tamils abroad are very keen on learning Tamil. Therefore, I don't expect they will find it difficult to pay for this education. Also, the subscription we are talking about is US $ 5 to US $ 8. This is a small amount that is easily affordable, for the Tamil enthusiasts. We understand that more than 20,000 from Canada, 5000 from Germany, 10,000 from Mauritius and 10,000 from US are interested in joining the course. If this happens we would have revolutionised learning Tamil. With so many people interested, I don't think the fee will be any problem.
We have planned to conduct exams in two different ways. One is the online exam. The other is oral - this is essential to ascertain the pronunciations of some complex words. The contact centres in different countries will conduct these oral tests. Online exams will be of the objective type. These exams can be taken only through the computers in the contact centres. No two students will get the same question paper. The answers will be embedded in the system. Hence, this will be problem free. The next step, we are planning, is to make the students submit written papers for evaluation. We will make available the fonts and letters and the students can use these to key in their submissions. This will be evaluated by the teachers here and marks will be awarded.
The government is helping in all possible ways. It gave an initial grant of Rs 1,70,70,000. We have approached the government for another grant of Rs 2 crores. We have been getting a lot of technical and moral support from the government.
As a first step we have undertaken to teach Tamil language and literature. This is the primary requirement for Tamils abroad. Our focus, at present, is on this step. In the next stage, we plan to have journalism, commerce, science courses, all in the Tamil language. Published on 17th March 2002 Text & photos Saravanan
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To provide the Tamil
diaspora and others interested in Tamil, an opportunity to interact and learn Tamil, through the Internet, and to know about the history, arts, culture, literature of the Tamils, the Tamil Virtual University
What was the objective behind launching this virtual university?
Work on 121 papers and 504 lessons is progressing rapidly. About 25 qualified and experienced professors are involved in the job. The work will be over in a few days time.
Under the library division, we plan to compile all works right from the ancient to the modern. We have finished compilation of 'Tholkappiam', 'Ettuthogai', 'Pathupattu'. Devotional literature like 'Thevaram' and 'Thiruvasagam' is being made available in audio format also.
The certificates will be sent by post. The certificates will be issued by the Tamil University of Thanjavur. Successful students will be recognised by this university. These exams are not confined to only people living abroad; these are open to people living here too. My request is that the media should give wide publicity for this venture.
