SEP draft by Sept; public can give opinion

CHENNAI: The much anticipated TN State Education Policy (SEP) will be ready by this September, with the expert committee almost finalising the draft report to be submitted to the government. It was after opposing the Centre’s New Education Policy (NEP-2020) that the DMK government constituted a high-level committee to formulate a distinct State Education Policy.

The panel, under the chairmanship of retired High Court Judge D Murugesan, conducted a series of review meetings to give shape to SEP, which should have been completed by May, when one of the senior members and convener of the expert committee, Jawahar Nesan, resigned, citing the SEP was in line with NEP. He also complained about interference from the principal secretary-level officers.

“In school education policy, there will be board exams for middle school level,” a senior official from the Higher Education Department told DT Next, adding, “more impetus will be given to ensure there are no dropouts till higher secondary”.

Pointing out that the policy will also give importance to strengthening the welfare schemes at the school level by introducing various systems, the official said, “better technology will be used in the school education to improve the standards of students, especially that of government schools”.

About higher education, the official said the government would stick on to Class 12 plus three years. “More priority will be given to improving job opportunities for the students in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs). “There will not be any common entrance exams for the students to join higher studies,” he said and reiterated that only two language policies will be adopted.

The official said the government would invite the opinion of the public and other stakeholders before coming out with the final report. The government will then pass a resolution for its implementation in schools and higher educational institutions. “The policy will be implemented from next academic year,” he said.