State Education Policy will be drafted soon, says Minister

The State Government will soon constitute a high-level committee to frame the State Education Policy and a set of names to be appointed as the panel members has been recommended to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, said School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi here on Friday.

The Minister said the State’s position on the National Education Policy (NEP) would be made evident through the its own education policy, which would be formulated within a few months.

“Children would have an understanding of themselves and their aspirations only after Class V. How can a child in Class III be asked to write a board examination?” he said. Children need to be taught through activity-based learning such as Montessori Learning, which some private institutions do. These will be part of the reforms the State was planning, he said.

A preliminary meeting was held under the leadership of the School Education Secretary last week, following which the names of people to constitute the high-level committee was submitted, he said while meeting the press after distributing touchscreen tablets to 80 students studying in Class XII at the Government Model School located within the Indira Ganesan Institutions on Madurai Road.

The tablets were provided to provide assistance for the children, which was being undertaken as a pilot project by the School Education Department. Such model schools were set up in 10 districts to encourage students to study in premier higher educational institutes after their schooling. Special attention and guidance would be given to these students, and based on their results, it would be emulated in other districts, Mr. Poyyamozhi said.

The School Education Department was looking to fill up 2,774 postgraduate teacher vacancies.