Chennai, May 12 (IANS): The Tamil Nadu government will release the draft of the State Education Policy after the lifting of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), a source said on Saturday.

The MCC will be lifted after the announcement of Lok Sabha election results on June 4.

The Tamil Nadu government had announced in the Assembly in 2021 that it would bring out an "exclusive" State Education Policy.

A panel was constituted in May 2022 with retired High Court judge, Justice D. Murugesan heading it.

The panel comprises educationists and experts from different other fields.

Sources in the Tamil Nadu Education Department told IANS that the draft of the State Education Policy was already prepared in November 2023.

However, the state minister for higher education, K. Ponmudi resigned as a legislator and also quit his ministerial position after he was convicted in a case.

While the minister was reinstated following favourable court order, the announcement of Lok Sabha polls led to the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct, thereby putting the release of the draft of the State Education Policy on a hold.

Sources in the school education department told IANS that after the draft of the School Education Policy is released, the final document will take more than three months to be released.

Dr. Mohammed Rashid, a retired Madras University professor, told IANS that the State Education Policy has to be released at the earliest as the decision was taken after the National Education Policy was announced.

He said that the management of educational institutions were expecting the announcement of the new policy since a long time.