Educationalists list points to SEP members to reject NEP
Additionally, the meeting also discussed keeping pre-primary out of formal education and the need to strengthen ICDS and Anganwadis.
CHENNAI: Highlighting key points for rejecting the National Education Policy (NEP), several educationalists and members of State Platform for Common School System – Tamil Nadu (SPCSS-TN) met the committee formulating the State Education Policy (SEP) on Thursday.
The notice from educationalists stated that NEP merely promotes privatisation, commercialisation and foreign financial capital investment in education, thereby converting education into a marketable commodity, without a social purpose.
Additionally, the meeting also discussed keeping pre-primary out of formal education and the need to strengthen Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) and Anganwadis. Retaining the 10 + 2 structure and the 3-year undergraduate programme by rejecting the proposed structure of 5+3+3+4 was also discussed. Besides this, the need to strengthen all government and government grant-in-aid schools so that these are accepted and welcomed by people as genuine neighbourhood schools.
The meeting highlighted the need to continue universities’ affiliating system and NAAC and NIRF should not be imposed on the State universities, restrict foreign universities from establishing their units/campuses in the State.
“Private school and private college regulation should include punitive action such as the government taking over the administration of the school/college for unethical practices and not following the laws in force. The law should define the service conditions, provide the right to teachers to form unions, claim living wages, ensure an elected student body in the schools and colleges and provide grievance redressal mechanism among others, “stated the notice regarding the discussion with committee members.
The educationalists claimed that the committee assured action and submitting its report to the mandate given by the government.