CHENNAI: For a State that has always had a stellar track record in education with a Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) of 51.4 against the national average of 27.1 as of last year, (GER is statistical measure of enrolment of students in school at different grade levels), the challenge has been one of quality over quantity.
To address the question of quality of education in general and employability of TN graduates in particular, Finance Minister PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan in his maiden budget last year promised smart classrooms, new colleges and a distinct State Education Policy (SEP).
The minister had said the government would appoint a high-level committee of educationists and experts to formulate the SEP keeping in mind the historical legacy of the State, its present situation and future aspirations. But even after eight months, the proposal which was seen as DMK’s answer to the Centre’s National Education Policy, is still on the drawing board stage. Educationists and academicians want the forthcoming budget to spell out a concrete road map for the policy and allocate funds to give shape to the policy.
“The Centre has been aggressively implementing NEP for the past two years, which is creating a lot of confusion in the education sector. We would like to see SEP turning into a reality in this budget,” said Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary, State Platform for Common School System.
“There should be clear and appropriate allocation of funds under SEP in the budget so that it can be implemented faster and in an effective manner,” said Raymond Patrick, general secretary, Tamil Nadu Graduate Teachers Federation.
In the last budget and through the year, the State had rolled out schemes to minimise learning loss among students due to the pandemic. Schemes like ‘Ennum Ezhuthum’ and ‘Illam Thedi Kalvi’ were launched to strengthen foundational learning and smart classrooms and hi-tech laboratories were planned to improve quality of education. But educationists say there are fundamental issues that require quick attention.
“According to various reports, over 1,600 schools in the State are in dilapidated condition while over 2,000 institutions are single-teacher schools. Along with designing smart classes, measures should also be taken to make school education accessible and holistic. Due to the pandemic, students’ enrolment in government schools has increased significantly, but infrastructure remains the same. This year’s budget should address these issues,” said S Giridharan, retired principal of a government school.
In the last budget (2021-22), the State had allocated Rs 32,599 crore for school education and Rs 5,369 crore for higher education. Of the funds earmarked for higher education, only Rs 768 crore or 15 per cent of it was allocated to universities.
This abysmally low funding, which has been continuing for years, has seriously impacted the quality of higher education and resulted in consistent drop in rankings in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), which ranks universities on the basis of a five-point scale of Teaching, Learning & Resources (TLR), Research and Professional Practice (RP), Graduation Outcomes (GO), Outreach and Inclusivity (OI) and Peer Perception.
For instance, while the ranking of Anna University, the State’s primary affiliating university for 680 engineering colleges, dropped to 25 last year from 20 in 2020, University of Madras’s ranking dropped to 47 from 41, and Bharathiar University dropped to 22 from 21. “A dedicated roadmap is required to improve the situation. A lot of investment in infrastructure development is required. The budget must focus on it,” said E Balagurusamy, former Vice-Chancellor of Anna University.
(Ahead of the State budget, TNIE examines expectations of the people)