The Tamil Nadu Model of Education: A Case Study in Social Justice and Inclusive Growth
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Social Issues (Education), Governance (Government Schemes - Mid-day Meal, National Education Policy - NEP), Modern History (Justice Party, Dravidian Movement).
Mains:
GS Paper 1: Social empowerment; Role of women and women’s organization.
GS Paper 2: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population and the performance of these schemes; Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Education, Human Resources.
Key Highlights from the News
The article argues that education is the foundation of Tamil Nadu's social and economic progress, and that education is the most effective tool for the concept of social justice.
This perspective is over a century old. India's first Mid-day Meal Scheme was started in 1920 in a school in the Madras Corporation, inspired by the Justice Party.
The article highlights the success of this model, citing that 135 students from Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Schools gained admission to premier institutions in the country like IITs, NITs, and National Law Universities.
Behind this success is a comprehensive support system that includes special training, scholarships, free education, hostels, and fee waivers.
Tamil Nadu's Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education is 47%, compared to a national average of only 28.4%. Tamil Nadu is also far ahead in terms of women's enrollment.
The Communal GO passed by the Justice Party in 1921 and the reforms of the Dravidian movement laid the foundation for today's achievements.
New schemes like 'Pudhumai Penn Thittam', which provides ₹1,000 per month to government school girls for higher education, and 'Illam Thedi Kalvi', launched to bridge the learning gap after COVID, are also successful.
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