Tamil Nadu CM unveils 4-years of school achievements under ‘Dravidian Model government’ schemes

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has released a detailed report of 4 years of achievements in the school education sector under the Dravidian Model government. According to the TN school education department, the "Illam Thedi Kalvi" programme has reached nearly 9.6 million students through 1.65 lakh volunteers with an allocation of Rs 660.35 crore.

In the 2024-2025 year, 50,000 Illam Thedi Kalvi centres have been functioning for the benefit of students from classes 1 to 5. Through this, 7.97 lakh students benefit.

The Ennum Ezhuthum foundational learning mission has covered 2.5 million children in 37,767 government schools. The "Ennum Ezhuthum" scheme was launched to improve basic literacy and numeracy among children studying in classes 1 to 5, and to ensure that every child achieves reading, writing, and basic arithmetic skills by the year 2025.

Under the Anaithu Palli Anbazhagan School Infrastructure Development Scheme, Rs 2,917.03 crore has been spent so far to upgrade facilities in 4,426 schools.

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Tamil Nadu's new school library, reading movement

The newly established Kalaignar Centenary Library in Madurai, with 3,64,521 books, has recorded 8.36 lakh visitors this academic year.

To inculcate the habit of daily reading in children, the reading movement was launched as a pilot project in 11 unions across 11 districts, benefiting 66,618 students from classes 4 to 9 in 914 government schools.

During the summer vacation period, a continuous reading programme ('Reading Marathon') comprising Tamil and English stories was held to encourage reading habits among children, guiding them to regularise their reading habits. Additionally, a short film festival was organised in Illam Thedi Kalvi centres to bring out the students' imagination, creativity, and thinking skills.

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3,043 teachers appointed

The state has also appointed 3,043 graduate teachers and 97 block-level education officers. The TN government has rolled out full-body health check-ups for teachers, expanded smart classrooms, upgraded model schools and hi-tech labs, and introduced multiple schemes supporting reading, STEM learning, student tours, Tamil-medium incentives, and literacy for adults and prisoners. The government said Tamil Nadu continues to remain a leading state in education on key indicators due to these reforms.

“Ennum Ezhuthum" literacy scheme

Notably. level-wise (Arumbu, Mottu, Malar) practice books for children studying in Classes 1 to 5, and teacher guidebooks with Quick Response (QR) codes have been provided to teachers. Through this scheme, 25.08 lakh students studying in classes 1 to 5 in 37,767 government and government-aided schools are benefiting.

Under the literacy scheme, books in child-accessible language have been categorised into four separate reading levels: Nuzhai (Enter), Nada (Walk), Odu (Run), Para (Fly), with 123 books and 1 reading movement guidebook printed and provided to all government schools. Nearly 44.50 lakh students studying in government schools from classes 1 to 12 benefited from the scheme.