Govt schools won't be thrust on employees' children: TN School Education Minister

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Government will not force government employees to admit their wards in government schools. However, the "historic changes" being made in the system would ensure achieving the goal of such admissions, School Education Minister K A Sengottaiyan said on Sunday.

Mr Sengottaiyan's comments come amid intense speculation about the proposed move by the Tamil Nadu Government to make it compulsory for government employees to get their children admitted in government schools.

"Government employees will not be forced to admit their children in government schools. There will no compulsion whatsoever, but the historic changes that are being made to the curriculum and to improve the education system will surely bring them to schools run by the government," the Minister told reporters in Gobichettypalayam near Erode.

His comments come almost a month after he expressed the hope that government servants in Tamil Nadu would cooperate with the administration if it comes out with a policy that their children should be sent only to government schools.

However, on Sunday, the Minister said the government would not come out with such a policy. He also referred to the reforms being made in the school education sector like doing away with the ranking system in plus 2 exams and announcement of coming out with a revised syllabus for the higher secondary course (HSC).

To a pointed question, the Minister said the Tamil Nadu Government was still opposed to conducting of Neet examinations for admission into medical colleges across the country. "We will continue to oppose the Neet format," the Minister said.

However, he also said the government would soon come out with model question papers to enable students to prepare for Neet and IIT. The Minister had been maintaining that Government schools in Tamil Nadu function much better than private schools.