Eight members of the state education policy (SEP) high-level committee said that the allegation by former member L Jawahar Nesan that the committee is moving towards the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is false.
The committee has never had any discussion on implementing the National Education Policy 2020, the members explained in a statement.
The statement says...
"We stand united with the chairman and assure the people of Tamil Nadu that we will present an education policy document that will be reflecting the concerns of the state and solutions therefore in the education sector. We reiterate that this policy will aim at achieving equity in education for all children in the state," the statement said.
The committee also denied the charge that the committee is functioning in an undemocratic manner and there is the influence of bureaucracy, as per a report by The New Indian Express.
They said every meeting with the stakeholders is attended by at least one of the committee members and shared with everyone else.
"We have not come across even a single incident wherein the chairman has been secretive about his activities. He has been liberal in providing space for expressing views of the members," they added.
They further said that the discussion with the bureaucracy has always been about understanding the nitty gritty of the government programmes in terms of finances and implementation functionaries. The role of bureaucracy was more of a facilitating factor and less of an advisory character.
The letter was signed by Aruna Rathnam, R Srinivasan and Jaishree Damodaran while it was approved through email by TM Krishna, S Ramakrishnan, Thulasithasan, Sultan Ahmed Ismail and S Madasamy.
Earlier, the chairman of the committee, Justice D Murugesan, had also denied the allegations.
Jawahar Nesan resigned from the committee recently stating that he was threatened by a senior IAS officer and the influence of bureaucracy in the committee is moving it towards accepting the National Education Policy 2020.