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Education should be back on state list, says CM Stalin
On February 28, when Stalin released the first part of his autobiography, he had sought the support of anti-BJP parties to amend the Constitution to ensure greater power for the states.
Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin on Friday pitched for education to be brought under the state list from the concurrent list given in the seventh schedule of the Constitution, and criticised the Union government for introducing regressive ideas in the sector.
“Vice-chancellors play an important role in the functioning of universities and setting standards for the institution. You should function in a way that scientific thoughts are inculcated in the minds of students,” said Stalin, addressing a conference of South Zone Vice Chancellors’ meet held at the Bharathiar University in Coimbatore district.
He then came down heavily on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government. “It is deplorable that the Union Government makes use of education being in the Concurrent List to push regressive principles.”
He added that the only solution to stop this is, “Moving education back to the State List.”
This is not the first time that Stalin has demanded that states be given more rights by the Union government. On February 28, when he released the first part of his autobiography, he had sought the support of anti-BJP parties to amend the Constitution to ensure greater power for the states.
Stalin emphasised on imparting skill-based education and training in the curriculum
His comments are in line with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)’s position opposing the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The DMK, which formed the government last May, passed a Bill seeking abolition of NEET in the state and also proposed to come up with a state education policy.
The DMK rejected the third language formula proposed in the NEP, viewing it as an indirect imposition of Hindi, and has been staunch that Tamil Nadu’s two language policy will continue.
Taking an indirect dig at governor R N Ravi, Stalin advised heads of the VCs to bear in mind that the people want educational institutions to follow the education policy of their respective states. During his Republic Day address, Ravi had criticised Tamil Nadu over its two-language policy and spoken in favour of NEET. Subsequently, the governor rejected Tamil Nadu’s anti-NEET Bill. The state assembly convened over the issue and again unanimously (barring BJP) passed the legislation and sent it back to the governor for the Bill to be forwarded to the President.
Tamil Nadu currently has 1,553 colleges, 52 government and private universities and 1,096 technical institutes. Stalin said that 19 universities from the state have found a place in the national ranking of institutions, while 33 colleges are in the list of the first 100. He said that they are proud that Loyola College in Chennai ranks third in the country. “While the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in the country is just 27.1 per cent, it is 51.4 per cent in Tamil Nadu. This is an achievement,” Stalin said.
“After we came to power, our government has allotted ₹5,369 crore for the higher education department. Our focus will be to take higher education to every nook and corner of the state in the next 10 years.”
