The Government of Tamil Nadu accords the highest priority to providing quality education to the citizens of tomorrow. Education is the gateway to a better future for today’s children and it is the formative years of school education that lay the fo
ormative years of school education that lay the foundation for their future wellbeing. It is the primary objective of the state to provide quality, accessible and inclusive education to all its children, and to this end, the government has provided the highest budgetary allocation of Rs.32,599.54 crore for the year 2021-22 for school education.
The focus of the Government in School Education will be to ensure that enrolment of all school age children is achieved in total, to ensure complete retention of all enrolled children right upto the secondary level, to bring drop-outs to zero, to improve the learning outcomes among children as appropriate to their age and level, to empower teachers by effective and useful training, to leverage the power of technology in the teaching-learning process, to provide foundational literacy and numeracy skills to all students, to improve basic amenities in schools, and to equip children with new-age skills and to ensure their safety and wellbeing, especially given the new-normal set by COVID. The various Directorates under the Department of School Education are responsible for fulfilling the aforementioned objectives of the Government. The main wings of the Department are the Directorate of Elementary Education, the Directorate of School Education, Directorate of Matriculation Schools, Samagra Shiksha, Directorate of Non-Formal and Adult Education and are supported by organisations such as State Council for Education, Research and Training(SCERT), Directorate of Government Examinations, Directorate of Public Libraries, Teachers Recruitment Board and the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation.
School Education is a critical phase in every student’s life as it lays the foundation of the future of an individual and creates avenues for both higher education and employment opportunities. Tamil Nadu has always been a pioneer in the field of education in India by providing quality and inclusive education to all its children along with the necessary infrastructure in all schools. The vision of the department is to provide universal access to schools and to promote holistic development by providing quality education to each student. Our education system focuses not only on imparting subject oriented knowledge to students but also life oriented skills to equip them to face real life challenges.
Education has been an integral part of Tamil society since time immemorial. The rich Sangam literature of the 2nd Century is a testimony to the same. The state’s system of indigenous education is held in high regard and documented by multiple historians for its curriculum and pedagogic strategies including but not limited to peer learning, use of memory as a modality of learning, problem solving through creation of riddles. The Survey of Indigenous Education in the Madras Presidency 1822-26, is one such documentation of Tamil Nadu’s indegenous system of education.
Till 1813, the East India Company did not recognize the promotion of education among the natives of India. The Governor of Madras Province, Sir Thomas Munro, formalized and institutionalized the system of education by establishing the Board of Public Instruction in 1826. The first set of grants for aided schools was issued in 1855, and by 1881, a considerable portion of indigenous institutions became aided. The rules and regulations designed by the Province to provide financial aid significantly altered the nature of curriculum, pedagogy, teaching learning material, and role of teachers that were unique to the indegenous schools and the larger community.
Under the Local Boards Act 1871, Local Boards were constituted and empowered to open schools and get subsidies from the government. The Madras Elementary Education Act, 1920 enabled the local bodies to levy an educational cess on land or property tax for advancement of elementary education
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