TN govt to release state education policy on Friday

CHENNAI: Five years as the common age for school entry, centralised exams only from Class X, ban on coaching centres running parallel to schools, revision of teacher selection process to assess pedagogy and only play in pre-primary schools are likely to be part of the state education policy (SEP) to be released on Friday.Chief minister M K Stalin will release the SEP for school education in the first phase. “The SEP has two components, and the school education part is ready and will be released tomorrow,” said a school education department official. The policy on higher education will be released later.A committee headed by Justice D Murugesan submitted its recommendations for the SEP on July 1 last year.The 550-page report was in favour of retaining the existing 10+2 school education system instead of the 5+3+3+4 school education system proposed in the national education policy (NEP). The report was also not in favour of common exams for Classes III, V and VIII as proposed by the NEP.It also favoured a two-language policy over the three-language policy proposed by the NEP. The committee also recommended introducing open book exams for students and giving weightage to Class XI exam scores. “The Justice Murugesan panel report placed more importance on physical education and creating digital infrastructure in all schools. We hope that the state govt will include the key recommendations in the SEP,” said a committee member.The govt has held discussions with stakeholders at various levels before finalising the policy. “The recommendations by the high-level panel are one of the inputs for the policy. The policy is broad-based. Extensive consultations and various inputs from teachers, parents and educationists have also been taken into consideration,” said a school education department official.