Voice over bringing back Education under State List from the present Concurrent List is growing in Tamil Nadu amidst the Union Government’s National Educational Policy [NEP] 2020 has become a debate topic in the media and in public domain.
Educationist and civil society representatives including Devasahayam have joined together against the NEP and have asked the TN Government to reject the provisions of the new education policy as it is detrimental to social justice and equity. The signatories in their Statement submitted to the Chief Minister voiced their concern against the NEP and termed it will certainly affect the federal characteristics of the Union vis-à-vis States.
The participants worried, allowing of the NEP would make the Union Government a centralized controlling hub in all the education matters from Primary to Higher education and this would put the State education system in quandary. They opined that TN has progressed very well in education and it has kept itself in competitive edge compared to other States in the Country.
The members called for passing of a resolution in the State Assembly under Article 246 of the Constitution to bring back the education to that of the original list. Reminding the Government that until 1976 education was kept under State List and after 42nd Amendment the same found a place in the Concurrent List. Such move of the Union, if allowed, the Statement says that the States would lose their freedom in exercising rights over education to NEP.