L. Jawahar Nesan, member-cum-convener of the high-level committee constituted by the Tamil Nadu government last year to formulate the State Education Policy, has resigned from the committee.
He released his resignation letter as a press statement on Wednesday, blaming a top bureaucrat for his decision. He said he was prevented from making the policy distinct from the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020.
Bureaucratic interference was threatening to make the State Education Policy a replica of the NEP, he said.
There was a plot to compromise the mandate, he said, accusing one of the Chief Secretaries of derailing the process of framing a unique policy for the State.
The State government formed a 13-member expert committee last year to evolve an education policy independent of the NEP. Several rounds of discussions were held with stakeholders.
“...the senior IAS officer Thiru. Udhaiyachandran, highly enraged, threatened me with abusive words to make me subscribe to the imposed conditions,” Mr. Nesan’s statement read. Though he repeatedly appealed to the chairman of the committee, retired judge D. Murugesan, on several occasions “on the exploitative conditions and excesses, the chairman did not react, but chose to simply ignore all,” he added.
He had not received any hearing from Mr. Murugesan, Mr. Nesan said.
According to him, the developments indicated that the committee’s leadership had “failed to protect the sovereign functioning of the committee from both bureaucratic interferences and internal disruptions”.
Mr. Nesan said the State wanted a distinct education policy and making it required the consideration of all reports from the time of the Radhakrishnan Committee in 1949. “I am open to discussing any policy, we are not going to shy away, it is a democratic process.”
“But the democratic process was lost four months ago. The chairman is also working in tandem with the official. I have written a dozen letters to the chairman. I was called to the cabin and addressed abusively. I wrote about this and sought to work independently. I have also written to the Chief Minister,” he added.
Mr. Nesan said the deliberations on the State Education Policy were taken up only in the 11th month; yet, the committee [which has been granted a year to submit its report] wanted to frame the policy.
“The basic guiding principle has not been discussed. They want us to finish the policy in a month,” he said.
“All problems started when they imposed the National Education Policy as a major agenda in the policy-making. When I opposed it, I was threatened. I am not accusing any one individual. The total system is like that. It was supposed to be a unique policy for the people. While we go ahead with making the policy, if any policy is going to impinge upon it, we can consider it. But you cannot have a preconceived idea. How can we accept that we could insert some changes at the operational level? Let us steer the deliberations properly. But I will continue to work from outside the committee,” he told The Hindu.
