Minister for School Education of Tamil Nadu, Government of Tamil Nadu, Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi speaks about the significance of bringing all schools under the education department. This is to ensure social justice and equality in the society, he says.
Excerpts from the interview:
Now that Adi Dravidar Welfare Schools come under the school education department, teachers and Dalit activists have raised concerns including what would happen to the schools’ assets. How does the government plan to address these issues?
The move to bring all schools under the school education department will help achieve the goal of social justice in the field of education, improve the quality of schools and ensure that all students are provided quality education.
It will be ensured that the service conditions and benefits of teachers and staff currently working in these schools are protected. The roles and responsibilities, and the integration process will be discussed by the department officials and the CM will finalise the integration without any issues and shortcomings.
Illam Thedi Kalvi was started to bridge the learning gap of students during COVID-19 and it is still being continued. Will the scheme be reinvented to suit the current needs? What is the scheme’s future?
Studies carried out by reputed universities have indicated a recovery of two-thirds of the learning loss caused by the pandemic in the state and the Illam Thedi Kalvi (ITK) scheme has a significant role to play in it.
As far as the reinvention of the scheme is concerned, the school education department in collaboration with Google Read Along conducted a reading marathon where students read over 263 crore words and 1.98 crore stories in a span of 12 days in the ITK centres. This will enhance the reading ability of the students. A short film competition was also held in March in ITK centres. ITK scheme will continue in the next academic year also and a budget provision of Rs 226.27 crore is also made for this scheme.
The government is coaching selected government school children to write national-level competitive examinations and join premier institutions. However, the process through which government school students are chosen for this coaching or to be admitted to model schools has come under criticism. How do you plan to address this?
Only periodical assessment tests of students were conducted. No separate test is conducted to select students for the model school admission. Children will be admitted by their all-round performances.
The recent CAG report says from 2016 to 2021, only 7% of children in remote areas get transport and escort facilities. How do you plan to increase this number and also the accessibility of the schools?
There are 2,133 unserved habitations at the secondary level. The government is issuing free bus pass, and bicycles were given free of cost to all Class XII students. In 2021-22, the transport/escort scheme was provided to 153 habitations that have no transport facility. In 2022-23, it was provided to 132 habitations. This scheme is sponsored by the Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India, and 198 habitations have been listed in the proposal for 2023-24. The scheme was extended to secondary classes from 2021-22 only.
Many, including the DMK allies, have raised concerns that the government has not upgraded many schools in the last two years. Why is that, and how does the department plan to increase the accessibility then?
In the 2021 budget, it was announced that 12 new primary schools will be started in hilly and remote areas and 22 schools will be upgraded. Based on the finance department note, details have been sought from the school education commissioner and the director of elementary education regarding starting 12 primary schools and upgrading 10 primary schools to middle schools.
How does the department plan to address the issue of teacher shortage? Does the Teachers’ Recruitment Board (TRB) have any deadline to recruit teachers?
Appointment orders were issued for 2,675 postgraduate teachers in government/ municipal higher secondary schools by Chief Minister MK Stalin on October 13. This apart, a total of 10,143 teachers, including 3,876 postgraduate teachers, 5,154 graduate teachers and 4,989 secondary grade teachers were appointed on a temporary basis by the school management committees to ensure that learning is not affected by the vacancy of teachers in 2022-23.
According to the proposed timetable of the Teacher Recruitment Board for the year 2023, competitive examinations for the posts of 4,719 assistant professors, 33 district education officers, 267 postgraduate teachers, 3,587 graduate teachers and 6,553 secondary grade teachers are scheduled to be conducted by the TRB to fill the posts of 15,159 teachers and assistant professors.
There is a long-pending demand to extend various government schemes including Pudhumai Penn Scheme and 7.5% reservation in medical seats to government-aided school students. What is the government’s stand on the issue?
These are related to social welfare and higher education department. Moreover, they are subjected to the policy decisions of the government.
