The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday, April 5, announced the constitution of a high-level panel under former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court D Murugesan to frame a new state education policy. Indian chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, musician, author and activist T M Krishna and former Vice-Chancellor of Saveetha University L Jawaharnesan are among the 13-member committee which comprises experts from diverse fields including academics and the state planning commission.
In its interim Budget for 2021-22, the Tamil Nadu government had said that it would form an expert panel to frame the state education policy. The new policy, according to the Chief Minister's office, will highlight the ancient culture of Tamil Nadu, its present position and future objectives. The Chief Minister said that the panel would give its recommendations to frame the new education policy within a year.
It is to be noted that the state government, under DMK, has been continuously objecting to several key features of the National Education Policy, including conducting common entrance examinations for all UGC courses, introduction of a three-language formula, and conducting common exams for Classes 3, 5, and 8. The state government has also opposed four-year degrees and also giving options for multiple exits. The Tamil Nadu state government in the past has said that giving the option of multiple exits would encourage more dropouts and will create two types of graduates.
Other than the Chairman of the panel, the other members of the expert panel include Retired professor from the Institute of Mathematical Science R Ramanujam; state planning commission members Sultan Ismail and R Sreenivasan; former Vice-Chancellor of Saveetha University L Jawaharnesan; former education specialist with the UNICEF Aruna Ratnam; Tamil writer S Ramakrishnan; educationists Tulsidas and S Madasamy; headmaster of Government Panchayat Union Middle School, Kichankuppam, Nagapattinam district, R Balu; and Jayashree Damodaran from Agaram Foundation.