Chennai: Tamil Nadu will continue to stick to its time-tested two language formula of teaching only Tamil and English in its schools, a State Education Policy (Schools), as distinct from the National Education Policy (NEP 2020) – which the state has opposed – released by Chief Minister M K Stalin in Chennai on Friday declared. The State has also scrapped the public examination in class XI, a concept that was introduced by the erstwhile AIADMK regime to ensure class 11 portions are not skipped by schools due to excessive focus on class 12 Board examinations.
The Government did not release its State Education Policy for Higher Education and made no mention of when it would be published. The State Education Policy for Schools is based on the recommendations of the Justice D Murugesan Committee.
By reiterating its decision to stick to the two-language policy as opposed to the three language policy – mother tongue, English and one other Indian language – mandated in the NEP 2020, the Stalin Government has made it clear this policy, originally introduced in 1968 remains non-negotiable for it. The Central Government had earlier withheld funds to Tamil Nadu under the Samagriha Shikha Scheme citing non-compliance with the NEP clause. The matter is now in Supreme Court.
Stalin said the policy has been designed keeping in mind Tamil Nadu’s unique character and is aimed at preparing students for the future with a vision. The policy does not encourage rote learning and instead seeks to make students think and act.
As for scrapping the Class XI public examination, the policy said the Government felt class 11 should be treated as a preparatory and transition year, focusing on subject enrichment, skill development, and academic readiness through continuous, competency-based internal assessments.
“This approach will help reduce examination-related stress, encourage deeper subject understanding, and ensure students are better equipped for the Class 12 Board Examination, while promoting a balanced, student friendly evaluation system across the higher secondary stage,” the policy said.
The State also stuck to its ‘No-Detention’ Policy for Classes 1 to 8 since “every child learns at a different pace and that schools must nurture learning, not penalise children for academic struggle.”
Reacting to the policy, former Anna University Vice Chancellor E Balagurusamy, who had also served as Member of the Union Public Service Commission, said, scrapping the class XI board examination was a retrograde step.
“Board Exam in Class 11 was introduced a few years back primarily to make Tamil Nadu students ready to face National Competitive Exams like JEE and NEET. These exams cover the curriculum of both 11th and 12th classes. Only after introducing the exam in 11th class, the performance of TN students improved considerably in these competitive exams. If the exam in 11th class is removed, then most of the schools will not teach the 11th class subjects and they will directly start teaching 12th class subjects from the beginning of 11th class itself. This is primarily because the admissions to Engineering and other degree programmes are based on the marks obtained 12th class exam only. Removal of 11th exam will seriously affect not only the prospects of students appearing for exams like NEET and JEE but also the quality of higher education in TN, which is already in a bad state,” he said.
