Telangana Edu Commission constituted

Hyderabad: The Telangana State government issued orders to constitute the Telangana Education Commission (TEC) to prepare a road map for improving educational standards, from pre-primary to university education.

The orders issued on Tuesday said that the formation of the new entity is intended to usher reforms in the education sector so that the state education sector could keep pace with the dynamic education landscape.

It reasoned that “a comprehensive view of the present scenario to arrest the declining trend and subsequently to devise a roadmap to improve the quality of outcomes is a top priority. It is imperative to revamp and reform the education sector in Telangana.”

Further, such an effort to revamp necessitates a continuous and dedicated focus on changes that are happening in various associated fields like evolving pedagogical practices, effective teaching methodology, assessment of learning outcomes, data drive monitoring, infrastructure requirements, assessment of needs for increase or decrease of various institutions leveraging education sector etc. This needs an appreciation of dynamic changes that has an impact on the quality of education. "Any lag to cope with the changing education landscape might adversely affect future generations." Thus, to address this, the Telangana Education Commission was formed to prepare a comprehensive education policy that covers education being imparted from pre-primary to university education including Technical Education," it added.

Accordingly, the TEC will have a chairman and three members who are education specialists, and it will have a Head of the Department rank official as its member secretary to coordinate its affairs. It will hold consultations with the stakeholders to formulate recommendations engaging experts/consultants/professionals to support the commission in achieving its objectives. It can also use the services of the employees from the education department on an OD/deputation basis.

The tenure of the non-official members of the Commission is for two years. It will be funded from the budget allocations. Besides, grants and contributions from various stakeholders, including private-sector partnerships. Expenditures like salaries and administration will be met from the funds provided to the commission. The financial expenditure for the expert's honoraries, the commission's meeting with expert groups, and discussions shall also be met from the allocation of funds.

When it comes to the functioning of the commission, it is an advisory body like the current Telangana Council of Higher Education (TGCHE). It works like a think tank to make policy advisory to the government, apart from adding value by "brainstorming, ideation, pilot studies, consultation in developing policy notes, guidelines, rules, facilitating exposure visits, etc."