Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin on Tuesday said his government, apart from its opposition to the National Education cum Entrance Test (NEET), is gainst the National Education Policy (NEP) because it alienates students from education. “We oppose it because it is not a stepping stone but a stumbling block. It’s a great injustice of the century,” Stalin said. “We are resisting because we are a society which fought for the right to education. The Tamil community fought for self-respect.”
Stalin made these remarks while addressing a conference of vice-chancellors of state universities at Chennai’s Anna University on Tuesday. The conference, organised for the first time by the DMK government, saw discussions on improvement in quality of education and research work in state universities.
Earlier in April, Tamil Nadu had formed a 13-member panel, led by D Murugesan, former Chief Justice of the Delhi high court, to frame a state education policy. “The commission will see to that a scientific temper is developed among the society,” Stalin said. The chief minister urged the vice-chancellors to introduce new subjects and discard conservative ideas. “It is your duty to make this a golden reign for higher education,” he said. “Building a society of equality and rational thinking is the greatest duty as educators.”
The chief minister also reiterated the necessity for the state government to appoint vice-chancellors - the power of which is now vested with the Governor who is the Chancellor of the state universities. The higher education minister is the pro-Chancellor. The Tamil Nadu legislative assembly in April passed two Bills that empower the government to appoint vice-chancellors to 13 universities in the state, in an apparent attempt to clip the wings of the governor on this subject.
{{/usCountry}}The chief minister also reiterated the necessity for the state government to appoint vice-chancellors - the power of which is now vested with the Governor who is the Chancellor of the state universities. The higher education minister is the pro-Chancellor. The Tamil Nadu legislative assembly in April passed two Bills that empower the government to appoint vice-chancellors to 13 universities in the state, in an apparent attempt to clip the wings of the governor on this subject.
{{/usCountry}}“Because this is an issue related to the rights of the state,” Stalin said during the VCs conference. “I request that universities act in a way that reflects the policy decisions of the state government.”