Leading Tamil Educationist Urges TN CM Stalin To Implement National Education Policy In The State

A leading educationist from the state of Tamil Nadu has urged Chief Minister M K Stalin to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) in the state at the earliest.

In a letter addressed to the chief minister, Professor Dr E Balaguruswamy highlighted that it has been over a year since NEP was approved by the Union government and all states in the country, with the exception of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, have begun the process of implementation of the same.

"The policy (NEP), which aims to eliminate problems involved in quality, pedagogy, structural inequalities, access asymmetries, rampant commercialization and varied other dimensions, promises to transform India into a vibrant global knowledge superpower that will meet the educational needs and aspirations of 21st century India," the letter read.

He further underscored that the higher education in the state should not go the way the school education did by not implementing the National Curriculum Framework 2005 (NCF2005) of NCERT. He added that the non-implementation of NCF2005 led to a deterioration in the quality of school education deteriorated to a level that the students of the state could not face any national level competitive exams like JEE and NEET.

"We heard some leaders saying that TN is number one in Higher Education and therefore we need not implement NEP. It is really an unfortunate and un-thoughtful statement, no doubt, we are number one in quantity (Gross Enrollment Ratio), but not in quality. Tamil Nadu ranks almost at the bottom of the list when it comes to the competence and employability of graduates. Industrial Associations say that only 15 to 20 per cent of graduates are employable. It is imperative that we cannot ignore the quality of higher education anymore," the letter noted.

It should be noted that Prof Balagurusamy is currently the Chairman of EBG Foundation, Coimbatore. He also serves as a Member of High Level Committee on School Education of Tamil Nadu Government and Chairman of Committee for Development of Text Books on Science and Technology in Higher Education.