State HEIs feel the heat due to delay in SEP

CHENNAI: The Higher Education Institutions in Tamil Nadu were once again in the cross fire as there is a delay in releasing the state owned education policy. Meanwhile, the Union Education Ministry was seeking a detailed report with regard to implementation of National Education Policy (NEP).

The Tamil Nadu government, which opposed NEP-2020, had formed an expert committee to come out with a state-owned education policy last year.

The panel, under the head of retired High Court Judge D Murugesan, conducted a series of review meetings to give shape to SEP, which should have been released by May this year.

However, one of the senior members and convener of the expert committee, Jawahar Nesan, resigned, citing harassment from the senior officials while preparing the State Education Policy (SEP).

After that, Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy said the SEP would be released by this September.

Meanwhile, during the last few months, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and University Grants Commission (UGC) have sent a series of circulars to HEIs for implementing several programmes based on NEP.

A senior professor from Anna University, seeking anonymity, pointed out that the Ministry of Education has already warned that central funds would be freezed for the state-run universities, if the NEP was not fully implemented.

“Many universities in the state, including ours have no clue when the SEP will be introduced and what would be its implications,” he said adding, “therefore, the institutions were “posing” to the Centre as if they are in the process of implementing NEP.”

He said the Anna University, in its latest self-assessment report submitted recently to the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), said about the institutional preparedness for NEP. “Other universities are also facing the same situation,” he said.

Association of Universities Teachers (AUT) president Dr P Thirunavukkarasu said, “there is no clue when the SEP will be implemented. The state government has to come out with a valid reason why the introduction of SEP was delayed despite it being completed by the expert committee.”

Thirunavukkarasu claimed that many universities have partially implemented the NEP.

“The range is between 20% and 50%,” AUT president Thirunavukkarasu added.

BlurbMany universities in the state, including ours have no clue when the SEP will be introduced and what would be its implications… Therefore, the institutions were pretending to the Centre as if they are in the process of implementing NEP, said a senior professor of Anna University