Govt. constitutes panel for formulating State Education Policy

The Tamil Nadu government has constituted a high-level committee under the chairmanship of retired High Court judge D. Murugesan to formulate a distinct State Education Policy, in keeping with the historical legacy, current situation and future aspirations of the State. The panel is to suggest reforms aimed at developing modern, technology-driven and updated curriculum frameworks for early childhood care and education, school education, college education, teacher (both school and higher education institutions) education and adult education in an integrated manner, and in keeping with the fast-changing global education and employment landscape. Speaking to The Hindu, Justice Murugesan said, “It would be a comprehensive report, keeping in mind the interests of our children from school education up to college education. The views of all stakeholders will be considered. Appropriate committee (sub-committee) will be formed.” According to the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the panel, it is to suggest ways and means to improve access, equity and quality of education by addressing issues related to on-field implementation of policy, specifically with regard to learning outcomes and employment-ready skills, besides examination reforms. Apart from suggesting reforms in teacher/assistant professor recruitment & training and ensuring their accountability towards stated objectives, the panel should also suggest ways to incorporate life skills, soft skills, creative skills, language skills and social justice values as part of a broad spectrum of education from the sciences to the liberal arts. Ensuring that all school passouts enrol in some stream of higher education — polytechnics, professional courses, conventional courses and vocational courses; suggesting ways to improve the quality of research in higher education institutions; and suggesting ways to tap resources from all funding agencies from India and abroad are among the provisions in the ToR. Besides Justice Murugesan, former Vice-Chancellor of Saveetha University L. Jawahar Nesan; Professor Ramanujam of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences; Professors Sultan Ismail and Ramu Seenuvasan - both members of the State Planning Commission; former education specialist at UNICEF Aruna Ratnam; writer S. Ramakrishnan; chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand; musician T.M. Krishna; educationist Tulasidas; writer S. Madasamy; headmaster R. Balu of Panchayat Union Middle School at Keechankuppam in Nagapattinam district; and Jayasree Damodaran of Agaram Foundation are the members of the panel. The panel has been requested to submit its final report within a year from the date of its constitution, after due consultation with all relevant stakeholders. It has also been authorised to constitute a sub-committee at the time of drafting the State Education Policy. During his Budget speech for 2021-22 in the Assembly in August last year, Minister for Finance and Human Resources Management Palanivel Thiaga Rajan had announced that the government will appoint a high-level committee of educationists and experts to formulate a distinct State Education Policy for Tamil Nadu. In April this year, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin announced the chairman and members of the High Level Committee for State Education Policy.