Delay in implementing SEP in higher education irks academicians
The State government had announced that it would implement its own State-education policy for both schools and higher education, as the Union government’s National Education Policy (NEP) stressed on the three-language system.
Tamil Nadu State Education Policy (SEP)
CHENNAI: Now that the State Education Policy (SEP) was released in Tamil Nadu, especially for school education, academicians and educationists are urging the State government to hasten the implementation of the policy for higher education, as State-run universities are caught in crossfire between the State and the Union governments for almost 5 years.
The State government had announced that it would implement its own State-education policy for both schools and higher education, as the Union government’s National Education Policy (NEP) stressed on the three-language system.
Accordingly, in August, 2025, it released the long-delayed SEP with focus on implementing the two language policies (Tamil and English), reaffirming the state’s opposition to the Centre. The two major announcements in the SEP include the cancellation of Class 11 board exam for TN students from the current academic year and establishing a ‘School of Success’ in each block of every district.
However, with the STATE government is yet to release the SEP for higher education. Academicians and educationists and other stakeholders have appealed to higher authorities to release it immediately for getting clarity for the state-run universities, which is under pressure from the UGC and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) – both of which are insisting on a report on NEP.
PB Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary, State Platform for Common School System – Tamil Nadu (SPCSS-TN) told DT Next, “The government has to release the high-level committee report to the public. Withholding it raises several queries. Without releasing it and getting the public response, how is it possible to finalise the policy?”
Former Anna University vice chancellor E Balagurusamy alleged that the government has not released the SEP for higher education because they could not find anything new in it. “The entire report could have been copied from NEP-2020 with a different nomenclature. Even the report on school education is also totally copied from NEP-2020,” he added.
A senior professor from a State-run university said that releasing funds from the Centre was delayed due to the non-implementation of NEP. “Both the UGC and AICTE were continuously sending circulars to update the implementation of NEP-2020 for the last five years. Till now, there is no clarity from the State government when it will be introduced for higher education,” he pointed out.