"Education should not be denied to anyone. No factors like caste, place, background, money, religious attire, gender should act as a hindrance to a student's education. It is to establish such a society that we are fighting for," said Chief Minister MK Stalin in a video message at the 10th edition of Think Edu Conclave, organised by TNIE. The CM of the southern state has been strongly opposing the need for any merit examination as, he believes, it acts as a barrier in accessing education, In his message, he also highlighted the measures taken by the DMK government and Kalaignar for the promotion of education and stated that Tamil Nadu is the only state that took 'education for all' in a broad manner.
Coming down heavily on the BJP government and NEET, Stalin said, "Now they have come up with another stumbling block in the name of NEET. It is the reason that we oppose NEET. The stumbling block will be removed." The education sector has been destroyed very badly in the last eight years of BJP's misrule, he rued. He added that by using brute majority, superstitions and irrational and unscientific claims are imposed in the syllabi. He further said that, like NEET, to disfigure the system that the country has built carefully for over a century, the government has dressed the old fashioned thoughts with a new name — the National Education Policy.
He reiterated the demand of bringing education into the state list. "The fact that education is a concurrent list is not for the parties that form the union government to promote its regressive principles. Education is the asset of this nation and the right of every citizen. The party that is in power wanting it to destroy it is like depriving people of oxygen. No good human would allow it. That is why we have been continuously demanding to move education back into the state list," said the CM. He added, "Communal forces are poisoning the young minds with divisive thoughts and hatred. Is this the contribution a government is supposed to offer for education? This is the question that intellectuals, those with a conscience, neutral commentators and educationists ought to ask without fear."
The Chief Minister said that in conferences like this one, how to get rid of such dangers to education should be the topic of discussion. He further highlighted that despite the hardships, the DMK Government has been implementing many progressive schemes. "To bridge the learning loss during the lockdown, TN has introduced the Illam Thedi Kalvi scheme. World renowned Indian welfare economist, Jean Drèze, has recommended that the same be implemented in Jharkhand," said Stalin.
According to the CM, all the 24,345 classrooms in TN government elementary schools are being converted into smart classrooms. High tech labs, modern science and language labs are being set up in 6,992 middle, high and higher secondary schools. He also said that the state government is planning to offer refresher courses and soft skills training to teachers under the guidance of top educationists. "And the state education policy which is being drafted is the cherry on the cake," he stated. However, Stalin added, "TN excelling in education alone is not enough for us. We should excel in higher education, research and inventions too. Let us march ahead to reach a day when the world will embrace our students as the greatest in knowledge and skills."
ThinkEdu 2022 is the grand tenth edition of what has consistently been India's biggest education conclave for a decade now. March 8 and 9 will see some stalwarts of India's academic, economic and political ecosystems bring ideas, ideologies and reflections on the past, present and future of India's education system. The sessions will be viewed by a live audience, in addition to the 2,750 registered users on the conclave's digital space. Over the last nine years, the conclave has seen some true stalwart thinkers such as former presidents Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and Dr Pranab Mukherjee, MPs Jairam Ramesh, Smriti Irani, former CM of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah, NITI Aayog's CEO, Amitabh Kant and spiritual guide Sadhguru.
