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Who is the Education Minister of Tamil Nadu?

Nikita Parmar

Updated on 14th June, 2024 , 4 min read

Education Minister of Tamil Nadu Overview

The Education Minister of Tamil Nadu is RS Rajakannappan (Higher Education) and Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi (School Education).

The introduction of a free education system in Tamil Nadu by the education minister has increased the enrollment percentage of pupils in primary schools and junior secondary schools. Furthermore, University officials also try to encourage learners by offering free meal schemes, which is known as the "Nutritious Noon Meal Programme" and books’ supplies on loan, bus passes among others.

Education Minister of Tamil Nadu 2024

The current Minister of Higher Education, Technical Education, Electronics, Science and Technology is RS Rajakannappan, while the minister of school education is Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi. Below is the educational partition, together with the education ministers for Tamil Nadu.

Education Ministry

Education Minister of Tamil Nadu

Minister for School Education

Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi

Minister for Higher Education

RS Rajakannappan

Minister of School Education

Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi who is Tamil Nadu politician and Education Minister today, entered politics two decades ago, aligning with the party, the Youth Wing Secretary by 2014. In 2016 he won from Thiruverumbur in Tamil Nadu Assembly election. His crowning came in May of 2021 when he was chosen afresh for thiruverumbur seat then became an education minister representing Tamil Nadu.

Education Minister of Tamil Nadu contact details: Contact Number: 044-25672574

Minister for Higher Education Tamil Nadu

RS Rajakannappan is the current Higher Education Minister of Tamil Nadu. With a bachelor's degree in law, a master's degree in history, political science and public Administration and a doctorate in political science, he is an alumnus of Annamalai University.

Before entering professional politics, he was a professor in the Villupuram government college. 

He has been elected five times as a member of the Tamil Nadu assembly during his political career in his life.`From 1989 until 1991 he was the Minister for Health under the rule of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party and then became minister of Transportation together with highways between up until 2001, as far as RS Rajakannappan concerns in addition to authoring one book called Dravidian Movement in India and Black Movement in U.S.A.´

Education Minister of Tamil Nadu contact details: Contact Number: 044-25671142

List of Higher Education Ministers of Tamil Nadu

The Education Minister of Tamil Nadu has had many faces and names since 1980. Check the list of higher education ministers of Tamil Nadu in the table given below

 

Name

Terms of Office

C. Aranganayagam

9 Jun, 1980 - 9 Feb, 1985

C. Ponnaiyan

10 Feb, 1985 - 30 Jan, 1988

K. Anbazhagan

27 Jan, 1989 - 30 Jan, 1991

R. M. Veerappan

24 Jun, 1991 - 12 May, 1996

K. Anbazhagan

13 May, 1996 - 13 May, 2001

M. Thambidurai

14 May, 2001 - 1 Mar,2002

C. V. Shanmugam

2 Mar, 2002 - 12 May, 2006

K. Ponmudy

13 May, 2006 - 15 May, 2011

P. Palaniappan

16 May, 2011 - 22 May, 2016

K. P. Anbalagan

23 May, 2016 - 6 May, 2021

K. Ponmudy

7 May, 2021 - Dec 23, 2023

RS Rajakannappan

Dec 23, 2023 - Incumbent

Objectives Set by the Education Minister of Tamil Nadu

The following points are the eight significant objectives set by the Education Minister of Tamil Nadu for the betterment of academics:

  1. The primary objective is to universalize education by providing quality education by providing necessary infrastructure and students safety and security.
  2. To strive for the overall development of the child.
  3. To build the child's knowledge, potential talent, and developmental abilities to the fullest extent.
  4. To provide the basic infrastructure to assure comfort in school.
  5. To provide a positive learning environment to encourage students to discover and explore skills.
  6. To provide quality education to the child.
  7. To provide sufficient opportunities for the child to expel fear.
  8. To lessen the stress caused by terminal examinations, the Tamil Nadu board has decided to make tests more flexible and implement continuous and comprehensive evaluations.

The education minister sets various goals to improve the educational system, whether to provide basic infrastructure or a positive learning environment. 

Education Schemes by the Government of Tamil Nadu 

Tamil Nadu School Education Minister's new class 10 and 12 schemes provide free NEET coaching to interested students. The state government arranges for food and lodging to coach government school students for the NEET UG exam.

The Tamil Nadu government also takes various measures like providing online facilities for students with free study materials. Most importantly, the faculty are trained for two weeks concerning competitive exam coaching.

All these drastic measures and actions at the right time lead to the quality of education in Tamil Nadu. The most beneficial schemes introduced by the Tamil Nadu government in school education are:

  • Computer Education
  • Early Childhood Care and Education
  • Girls Education
  • Integrated Education for the Disabled
  • Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV)
  • Mid-day Meal Scheme
  • Educational Satellite
  • Distribution of Free Textbooks
  • Distribution of Free Uniforms
  • Distribution of Free Bus Pass

Education in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is the most literate state. It is above the national average rate, with state literacy being 80.33% in 2011, regarded as the top-rated in national-level literacy.

The state provides many opportunities for distance learning colleges and universities that have provided the scope for not only the people of this state but also students from other states.

  • School Education in Tamil Nadu
  • Tamil Nadu Board of Secondary Education
  • Education Administration and Authority in Tamil Nadu
  • Tamil Nadu Government consists of,
  • Tamil Nadu Higher Education Department
  • Tamil Nadu School Education Department
  • Union Government
  • University Grants Commission (India)
  • All India Council for Technical Education

School Education in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu follows the pattern of 12 years of education at national level, which consists of a 10+2+3 system that includes 8 years of basic education from 6 to 9 and 9 to 11 years old (5 years in primary school and 3 years in middle school).

Post elementary is the secondary and higher secondary education, each of two years. The minimum age required for admission into class 1 admission is five or above.

Pupils can pursue studies in universities or colleges for higher education, technical and professional course after passing Higher Secondary School Certificate

Tamil Nadu Board of Secondary Education

Tamil Nadu Secondary Education Board was established in 1910. It is under the Department of Education and Government of Tamil Nadu, India.

There are three state board exams in Tamil Nadu for student assessment: one at the end of class 10 and two at the end of class 11 and 12. Class 12 board marks are the cut off marks to get into higher education. Tamil and English are the medium of education in Tamil Nadu.

Most private and government aided schools follow English as the medium of instruction.

Higher Education in Tamil Nadu

Higher education is technical institutions that include commerce institutions like accountancy, typewriting and shorthand. Directorate of Technical Education is the regulating body for higher education in Tamil Nadu.

Higher Education offers diplomas, post diploma, post graduate courses and research programmes.

Two types of universities in Tamil Nadu are as follows.

  • Private University or Deemed University
  • Public University or Government University. Means it is run by the state government of India or central government of India.

Tamil Nadu education is progressive and inclusive with schemes for overall development and enrollment.

 

Read about List of Cabinet Ministers 2024.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Tamil Nadu’s first Education Minister?

Ans. Tiruppur Subrahmanya Avinashilingam Chettiar was the First Education Minister of Tamil Nadu.

List some achievements by the Education Minister of Tamil Nadu.

Ans. He has a net worth around 8 crores as stated in the affidavit submitted to the Election Commission of India. He has assets around 10 crores and liabilities of nearly 5 lakhs. In May 2021, he was elected as an MLA for the second time from the Thiruverumbur constituency, and he was assigned as the Tamil Nadu School Education Minister.

Name some reputed institutions for higher education in Tamil Nadu.

Ans. NIT (Trichy), IIT (Madras), Loyola College (Chennai), Asian College of Engineering and Technology (Coimbatore), NIFT (Chennai) and Presidency College (Chennai).

What is the medium of instruction used in Institutions of Tamil Nadu?

Ans. While, Tamil & English are the most common medium languages, most private schools’ medium of instruction is English, while the schools run by the Government are primarily Tamil medium. However, the Kendriya Vidyalaya’s run by the central government have a dual medium of instruction: English and Hindi.

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