ayashree Perumal is pursuing mechanical engineering at Kun-Shan in Taiwan, an exceptional journey from her tiny village, Pannandur, in Krishnagiri district to an international university. She will become the first graduate in her family when she completes the course.Jeyashree and 947 more girls, a total of 2,358 students, from Tamil Nadu govt schools have joined premier higher education institutions, nationally and internationally, in the past four years.The landscape of education in Tamil Nadu has moved beyond basic literacy to secure a future of global excellence for its students. The new administration inherits a high benchmark of inclusive growth and social justice.The Niti Ayog report released recently has indicated that Tamil Nadu has increased its higher education GER by 13.1% between 2014 and 2025. The primary-to-upper-primary transition stands at 96.7%, and the upper-primary-to-secondary transition at 96.6% — both well above the national average.The story of Tamil Nadu’s educational rise is intertwined with its social justice movement. Education was never viewed merely as a sector, but as the foundation of dignity, equality, economic mobility and social transformation.In the decades after Independence, Tamil Nadu expanded schooling across rural and urban areas, ensuring primary schools in panchayat unions, middle schools in town panchayats, high schools in municipalities, and higher secondary schools in every revenue block. Combined with chief minister Kamaraj’s mid-day meal scheme in govt schools, this improved literacy and attendance, particularly among girls and rural students. For the first time, education became accessible to ordinary families, while teachers emerged as important links between villages and the wider world.The next major transformation came through the expansion of higher education and professional education. Universities and govt arts and science colleges were established across districts, while reservation policies enabled students from historically marginalized communities to enrol in large numbers. Obtaining a degree became the new norm: an easily achievable target for the masses, a minimum qualification, and a source of social pride.By the 1990s, Tamil Nadu moved from producing first-generation graduates to producing first-generation engineers, software professionals, administrators and entrepreneurs. Coupled with a pioneering IT policy by chief minister M Karunanidhi, it became India’s IT hotspot. Simultaneously, the manufacturing industries in electrical, electronics and automobiles flourished, drawing on this new generation of engineers who contributed to the state’s economic development.Yet, despite these achievements, premier national institutions such as IITs and NITs largely remained beyond the reach of most govt school students.Over the past five years, the focus shifted from enrolment alone to aspiration and upward mobility. A series of govt initiatives sought to reduce economic barriers, improve retention, strengthen employability and help first-generation learners compete for higher education and professional opportunities.A breakfast scheme covered more than 37,000 govt and govt-aided schools, benefiting nearly 22 lakh children, improving attendance, classroom participation and student retention, while a monetary scheme for girl students pursuing higher education, benefited more than 5 lakh students, reducing economic barriers and increasing GER of govt school students completing Class 12 moving into higher education to 75% — almost three times the national average. Another trained more than 41 lakh students in employability skills and also facilitated employment opportunities for more than one lakh youth.Digital learning initiatives also transformed access to education. Students preparing for examinations such as JEE, NEET, CUET, and CLAT now receive high-quality learning resources free of cost in both Tamil and English through the Manarkeni app and direct academic support through the model schools. .The reforms have led to an increasing number of govt school students entering premier institutions. Admissions rose from 75 students in 2021–2022 to 274 students in 2022–2023, 628 students in 2023–2024, and 1,381 students in 2024–2025, totalling 2,358 students over four years, across 93 premier institutions and 50 disciplines.Students entered IITs, NITs, National Law Universities, NIFT, Indian Maritime University, School of Planning and Architecture, forensic science universities, aviation institutions, and several international universities. Many among them are first-generation learners from rural and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. It represents the democratization of aspiration.For decades, it took several generations for students to even consider these elite institutions. Today, a govt school student from a rural village can realistically dream of entering an IIT, studying abroad, becoming a lawyer, scientist, architect, or researcher. That shift in confidence is one of the most significant social transformations Tamil Nadu has witnessed.As Tamil Nadu moves toward political transitions and new administrative phases, the state faces an important responsibility. Educational transformation requires continuity. The progress achieved in school strengthening, first-generation learner support, skill development, higher education access, and premier institution admissions cannot be treated as temporary political projects. They are long-term investments in Tamil Nadu’s social and economic future.This also presents a major opportunity for any new regime to learn from history. All the leaders who have contributed to education stood the test of history in Tamil Nadu, from Kamaraj’s mid-day meals, MGR’s nutritious meals, M Karunanidhi’s engineering revolution, J Jayalalithaa’s 69% reservation and Edappadi K Palanisami’s 7.5% horizontal reservation to govt school students in medical courses to Naan Mudhalvan, Pudhumai Penn and Tamil Pudhalvan under M K Stalin.Thus, by continuing and strengthening these initiatives, rather than disrupting them, the new govt can earn lasting trust among youth, parents, teachers, and first-generation families. Educational progress builds public confidence because families directly experience its impact through their children’s advancement.(The writer is a former state education consultant with the school education department, government of Tamil Nadu)
