CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu will continue to have the no-detention policy till Class 8 after the Central Advisory Board of Education meeting in Delhi chaired by the union HRD minister on Tuesday decided to leave the matter to individual states' discretion.
The move to reduce it to Class 5 had garnered support from some states, while others including Tamil Nadu staunchly opposed it. Finally, facing stiff resistance on this, union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar announced in the meeting itself that it will be left to the discretion of the State governments.
Including this, the State has specific agreements and disagreements over the proposals contained in the draft New Education Policy that the Centre prepared, which were conveyed unequivocally by higher education minister KP Anbazhagan and school education minister K Pandiarajan who represented the State at the meeting of the board.
“The good thing about today’s meeting is that it has turned out to be one where some good decisions were taken. Of the 143 aspects, the Centre has attempted to bring about a consensus on 11 aspects. In general, Tamil Nadu stressed on diversity, equity and inclusiveness in education policy which was appreciated by the Union HRD Minister,” the school education minister told Express from Delhi.
The State has a difference of opinion on 36 aspects of the draft NEP, even as it supports a few, besides making some demands and putting forth suggestions on many others. The minister said Tamil Nadu welcomed the proposal that six per cent of the GDP should be allocated for education. “When it is realised, a substantial portion of that additional allocation to be made should be given to the states. They have agreed to it at policy level.”
The important decisions taken at the meeting include considering the request for financial support from the Centre for providing free laptops to students, extending the three-year deadline for training the untrained teachers in all schools up to March, 2020, Pandiarajan added.
Among the proposals that Tamil Nadu oppose is the setting up of ‘alternate schools’ for children from specific categories like very deprived, migrant, and those living in difficult circumstances. "As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, all sections of the people had been brought to the mainstream and the Centre's duty is to support our initiatives," he said.
Similarly, Tamil Nadu also opposed the proposal to set up separate schools for working children, as the State government had already banned child labour below 14 years.
The other plans where the State and the Centre were not on the same page include the suggestion to set up a Central Board of Evaluation, the move to create a central cadre - Indian Educational Service - and to create a separate cadre for headmasters and bringing them under centralised control, and granting powers to the School Management Committee to evaluate the teachers to give them awards and other recognitions.
Tamil Nadu also opposed the proposal to restrict the number of affiliated colleges to each university to 100. This was a difficult idea for the State to agree to, as Madras University has 134 affiliated colleges while the figure is a whopping 614 engineering colleges for Anna University.
On NEET, Tamil Nadu has serious differences against the idea of a national-level common test, a matter that it is fighting before the Supreme Court. However, as the test has already become mandatory from this year, it is now looking at dealing with the present reality simultaneously. "Even while pursuing this issue legally, we have also been taking steps to open training centres for the students [from poor and marginalised sections] to equip them to face the NEET as an eventuality,” Pandiarajan added.
The State that gave the mid-day meal scheme idea to the world also had a few suggestions to make before the board. The government has been working on a pilot scheme to impart education to children in the age group of three to five years at anganwadi centres. “Today, at the meeting, it has been proposed to implement such a scheme at the national level," Pandiarajan added.
The Tamil Nadu government has also sought Rs 500 crore funding if teachers are to be appointed at over 55,000 anganwadi centres. Javadekar has assured to consider the demand.
Key NEP proposals opposed by TN:
Establishing foreign universities in Tamil Nadu
Creating a Central cadre - Indian Education Service
Doing away with ‘no detention’ system upto eighth standard
Restricting number of colleges affiliated to each university
Alternate schools for special categories of students
Separate schools for working children
Navodaya schools
Creating a separate cadre for headmasters and bringing them under centralised control
Proposals to promote Sanskrit