DC Edit | 2 Languages, Not 3: Will Others Follow TN’s Lead?

The recently unveiled Tamil Nadu State Education Policy 2025 has emerged as a model document for the entire nation for it keeps the spirit in which children’s education is viewed in the State since the time of K. Kamaraj, who believed in the uplift of downtrodden communities through not only teaching children but also retaining them in classrooms. The new policy, already touted as an effective counter to the contentious National Education Policy (NEP-2020), among other things, reimagines the school curriculum as experiential, inquiry-based and competency-driven and seeks to integrate the unique cultural heritage of the state into the syllabus.

One quintessentially Tamil Nadu trait of any education policy in the country will be the two-language policy that promotes teaching of the mother tongue and English. Followed by all State-run schools for over half a century in Tamil Nadu, the two-language formula is now gaining popularity with neighbouring Karnataka seeking to implement it and Maharashtra seemingly aspiring to follow it, the new policy cherishes that pedagogical heritage by conserving it. Reinforcing the need for every student attending a school in the State to gain functional proficiency in Tamil, irrespective of the board the institution is affiliated to, policy makes learning of Tamil compulsory, another distinctive feature that more States might wish to emulate.

The policy revisits Tamil Nadu’s historical achievements in education like near-universal enrolment, reduced dropout rates, educational equity across caste, gender and geography and in effectively addressing persistent disparities faced by Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), minorities, children with special needs (CwSN) and first generation learners to ensure the continuation of social justice in education.

Envisioning the school as a safe, vibrant space nurturing the full potential of every learner, who would be able to speak, read, write and comprehend both languages — mother tongue and English — with confidence, the policy aims at shaping citizens with more life skills and problem solving abilities and discourages learning by rote, the present day system that hampers the development of learners seeking to take on the world in all spheres, including academia.

Since the policy aspires to convert schools into physically safe, emotionally nurturing and socially inclusive spaces that integrate child rights, gender sensitivity, mental health, physical fitness, arts and life skills into the pedagogical culture besides modernising facilities through smart classrooms, barrier-free access, science and computer laboratories and digital tools, it would well turn out to be a model for the world itself, if implemented properly.

Some essential components of 21st century schooling like climate literacy, entrepreneurship, and civic responsibility have been incorporated in the policy that also seeks to bridge urban-rural digital divides and strengthen the pre-service and in-service training ecosystem for teachers by introducing peer mentoring systems, modular courses and leadership development for school heads.

Another feature that makes the policy truly international is the recommended reforms in assessment, calling for a radical shift from high-stakes, memory-based exams to continuous, formative, and competency-based assessments employing techniques like project work, peer evaluation, and self-assessment. By reinforcing the State’s commitment to the No-Detention Policy for Classes 1 to 8, the introduction of a system of bridge courses, learning outcome monitoring and individualised support for vulnerable and first-generation learners, the new policy could well pave the way for a zero dropout rate.