Tamil Nadu’s School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi on Saturday appointed two new members to the High Level Committee (HLC) constituted for drafting the State Education Policy (SEP), and denied any interference from officials in the functioning of the committee.
The new members are D. Freeda Gnana Rani, Former Principal, Quaid-E-Millath Government College for Women, and G. Palani, Professor and Head, Department of Tamil Literature, University of Madras. The announcement comes in the backdrop of the resignation of L. Jawahar Nesan as the member of the HLC earlier this month, who alleged bureaucratic interference and a push to draft the policy on the lines of the National Education Policy, 2020.
Mr. Poyyamozhi, in his statement issued on Saturday, said the HLC was functioning with full autonomy, and meetings with Secretaries of different departments were conducted only to understand the practical difficulties and the impact of the policy from an implementation perspective. Such meetings, he said, were held in a transparent manner with the participation of HLC members.
Recalling the meetings the HLC had with different stakeholders, he said, while preparing the “policy report,” it was important to understand the multiple facets of the present scenario and to take into consideration the fine connections between drafting a policy and its implementation. It is in this context that the HLC had consultations at various levels from those working on the field to officials at the highest level.
Report submission
The Minister said the government had full confidence in the functioning of the HLC to create a district education policy for Tamil Nadu. The committee, he added, had been provided an extension of four months and it is expected to submit its report by September 2023. The government order constituting the HLC was issued on June 1, 2022, and was expected to submit its final report within one year.
Once the report is received, the government would carefully consider the recommendations and formulate an education policy, keeping in mind the interests of the students and Tamil Nadu’s development, the Minister said.
