After unveiling the policy at the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai on 8 August, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said, “Tamil Nadu’s commitment to its two-language formula, Tamil and English, rejects the three-language policy prescribed by the NEP.” He added, “We will not allow pirooku (reactionary thinking) in our education. Our State Education Policy (SEP) aims to create samathuva kalvi (education for equality) and pagutharivu kalvi (education with rational thought).”
Tamil Nadu is the first state to formally adopt its own school education policy in direct contrast to the Centre’s NEP, an act seen as both pedagogical and political. The DMK government has consistently opposed the Centre’s NEP 2020, saying it is against Tamils and Tamil Nadu, and amounts to the imposition of Hindi, Sanskrit, etc. The 230-page policy document was prepared by a 14-member committee headed by retired Delhi High Court Chief Justice D. Murugesan.
One of its former members, L. Jawahar Nesan, has come out against the DMK government’s SEP, saying it lacked the fundamental elements of an education policy. He told media persons on August 12, “The policy lacked any concrete idea or proposal for the educational upliftment of all children in the 21st century, and it aligns in letter and spirit with the NEP 2020.”
Jawahar said, “Any public policy should first be made public as a draft for consultation. While some stakeholders were engaged in a limited manner through public hearings to inform the policy’s context, the draft policy was not subjected to comprehensive public consultation before being unveiled. This contravenes the fundamental principles of inclusive and participatory public policy-making. Before announcing the NEP 2020, the central government released a draft for public opinion.”
In May 2023, Jawahar Nesan, a professor and Member-Convener of the State Education Policy High-Level Committee, issued a two-page press statement announcing his resignation because of interference from IAS officers. He said, “The State Education Policy, which was meant to replace the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, will be a ‘rechristened version’ of the NEP itself.” This was his reason for quitting the panel.
He further stated, “The policy recommends current schemes such as the school observation app known as Palli Paarvai, the Educational Management and Information System (EMIS), proposed block-wise model schools, and STEAM learning as the solution to the lofty claim of producing future-ready students and imparting 21st-century skills, including critical thinking.”
Pointing out its lacunae, Jawahar Nesan said, “To achieve 21st-century skills, the measures are limited to app-based schemes, and teachers’ capacity-building is confined to schemes such as the Payirchi Paarvai digital platform. The SEP appears to approach education in a lackadaisical manner, proposing populist slogans as solutions… The unveiled policy does not reflect even an iota of understanding of Tamil Nadu’s distinct features, problems, conditions and challenges, nor how its recommendations can serve as genuine solutions to address these issues.”
Reacting to his remarks, the Tamil Nadu School Education Department said, “It provides a solid foundation to be built upon with regularly updated, measurable actions. It also strengthens social justice, retains and upgrades welfare measures, and introduces future-ready curricula, ensuring flexibility.”
Tamil Nadu BJP chief Nainar Nagendran commented, “Ninety-nine per cent of the policy has been taken from the Centre’s NEP 2020. The SEP is nothing but a Xerox copy of the NEP 2020.”
மாநில கல்விக் கொள்கை 99% தேசிய கல்விக் கொள்கை தான் – நமது தலைவர் திரு.@NainarBJP அவர்கள்! pic.twitter.com/QIyUctrSUi
— BJP Tamilnadu (@BJP4TamilNadu) August 9, 2025
In another tweet, Nainar Nagendran said, “It has brought the SEP by copying from the NEP in a haphazard and hasty manner, keeping in mind the fast-approaching Assembly elections. It has retrieved the NEP from cold storage to cheat the Tamil Nadu public. It has been sticker-pasting the Centre’s schemes as its own and seeking publicity for Central initiatives on a full-time basis, and has now unveiled the NEP.”
கிடப்பில் போட்ட மாநிலக் கல்விக் கொள்கையை தேர்தல் காலம் நெருங்கிய பீதியில் அவசர கதியில் தேசியக் கல்விக் கொள்கையைப் பார்த்து அரைகுறையாக பிரதி எடுத்துள்ளது @arivalayam அரசு! pic.twitter.com/d2Kj00t1yy
— Nainar Nagenthran (@NainarBJP) August 8, 2025
Former Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai, taking to his social media handle X, questioned, “Is this part of the State Education Policy you released a few days back, Thiru MK Stalin Our Hon PM Thiru Narendra Modi avl empowered the Narikuravar community by including them in the ST list, and here is the DMK government rusticating a boy from that community from the Government school for lack of a Birth Certificate and an Aadhaar card. His parents have knocked on the doors of every government office, including the Tahsildar’s office in Thiruvallur district, only to be met with apathy. Under the DMK government, ‘Social Justice’ exists only in speeches, not in action.”
Is this part of the State education policy you released a few days back, Thiru @mkstalin?
Our Hon PM Thiru @narendramodi avl empowered the Narikuravar community by including them in the ST list, and here is DMK Govt rusticating a boy from that community from the Government… pic.twitter.com/DENzUPu3Sx
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) August 12, 2025
Anna University’s former Vice-Chancellor E. Balaguruswamy has condemned the State government for scrapping the board examination for Class XI. He said it would affect the prospects of students appearing for entrance exams such as NEET and JEE, since these follow the curriculum of both Classes XI and XII. “The performance of Tamil Nadu students in these competitive exams improved after the introduction of the Class XI board exam,” he said. DMK’s ally, VCK MP Ravikumar, also expressed concern that the move would not only adversely affect higher secondary education but also bring down the quality of higher and vocational education.
Critics have also pointed out that, “The DMK, which opposes Hindi imposition, has in fact forced non-Tamils to study Tamil as a compulsory subject as part of its two-language formula.”
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