CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu will continue to have the no-detention policy till Class VIII after the Central Advisory Board of Education meeting in Delhi chaired by Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday decided to leave the matter to individual states’ discretion.
The move to reduce it to Class V had garnered support from some states, while others, including Tamil Nadu, staunchly opposed it. Finally, facing stiff resistance on this, Javadekar announced in the meeting itself that it will be left to the discretion of the State governments.
The State had specific agreements and disagreements over the proposals contained in the Centre’s draft New Education Policy (NEP), which were conveyed unequivocally by higher education minister K P 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 attempted to bring about a consensus on 11. 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 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. However, it said, “When the allocation is made, a substantial portion of that additional funds should be given to the states. They agreed to it at the policy level.”
The important decisions taken at the meeting include leaving the ‘no detention’ up to Class VIII to the discretion of the states, 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 opposed was the setting up of ‘alternate schools’ for children from specific categories like very deprived, migrant and those living in difficult circumstances. 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 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 up to 100. 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.
Key NEP proposals opposed by State
■ Establishing foreign universities in Tamil Nadu
■ Creating a Central cadre – Indian Education Service
■ Doing away with ‘no detention’ system up to Class VIII
■ Restricting number of affiliated colleges to each university
■ Alternate schools for special categories of people
■ Separate schools for working children
■ Navodaya schools
■ Creating a separate cadre for headmasters and bringing them under centralised control
■ Proposals to promote Sanskrit