CHENNAI: Secondary Grade Teachers Association (SSTA) on Tuesday condemned the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for stating that the Centre will release Rs 2,150 crore funds to Tamil Nadu only after the State agrees to implement the Prime Minister's Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme.
In a press note, SSTA said, "Due to withholding of funds, teachers are severely affected.” It also puts at stake the education of nearly 40 lakh students in the State, the association added. “On the whole, 32,000 teachers, 12,000 part-time teachers, thousands of Block Resource Teacher Educators (BRTEs) and special educators for children with disability are getting affected," read the statement.
The SSTA note further warned that if the Union government withholds funds, not only teachers but also parents will be led to the warfront, taking into account the need to protect the future of their children.
Supporting the DMK government's stance on the two-language policy, the SSTA press note added, "To date, our students have been excelling in various fields, including education, by following the two-language education policy of the State." The association supported the State government’s stance, saying that it was with the two-language policy that the State has excelled in all sectors and has turned out to be one of the largest economies in the country today, the note stressed.
Under the integrated school education scheme introduced in 2018, the State implements various schemes along with the Union government. For the year 2023-24 Rs 3,533 crore was approved for Tamil Nadu. Out of the funds, Rs 1,434 crore (40 per cent) is TN's share, while Rs 2,152 crore (60 per cent) is the Union government's share.
However, the Union government has been depriving the TN School Education Department of funds under the Samagra Shiksha (SS) scheme for refusing to implement the PM SHRI scheme (one of the components of the National Education Policy) in the State.