School

LMS seminary moves to Nagercoil

Charles Mead shifted the London Missionary Society's seminary from Mylaudy to Nagercoil, where it grew into Scott Christian College.

First girls' school opens in Tirunelveli

The first school for girls in the Tirunelveli region was opened in 1821.

General Assembly's School, origin of Madras Christian College

Scottish missionary John Anderson opened the General Assembly's School in Madras, which grew into Madras Christian College.

Madras Preparatory School, forerunner of Presidency College

A government preparatory school opened in Madras in 1840; it grew into the High School and eventually Presidency College.

Pachaiyappa's Central Institution opens

Funded by the bequest of merchant Pachaiyappa Mudaliar, Pachaiyappa's Central Institution opened in Madras.

Jesuits found St. Joseph's College at Nagapattinam

French Jesuits opened a college at Nagapattinam that later moved to Tiruchirappalli as St. Joseph's College.

Wood's Despatch on education

Charles Wood's education despatch called for universities in the presidency towns and a graded school system across India.

Provincial School opens at Kumbakonam

A government Provincial School opened at Kumbakonam, later the Government Arts College known as the Cambridge of South India.

Lawrence Asylum founded at Lovedale in the Nilgiris

A Lawrence military asylum for the children of British soldiers opened at Lovedale near Ooty; it became the Lawrence School.

Agricultural school opens at Saidapet

An agricultural school was started at Saidapet, Madras, the institution that later became the agricultural college at Coimbatore.

Highclerc School, later Kodaikanal International School, opens

Margaret Eddy opened Highclerc School at Kodaikanal for missionary children on 1 July 1901; it became Kodaikanal International School.

Madras Elementary Education Act

A Madras statute made elementary schooling compulsory for both boys and girls and raised spending on primary schools.

Madras Corporation starts a school meal scheme

At a corporation school in Thousand Lights, the Madras Corporation started a breakfast scheme that foreshadowed Tamil Nadu's noon meal programmes.

Rajaji's Modified Scheme of Elementary Education

Rajaji's two-shift school scheme, criticised as Kula Kalvi Thittam (hereditary education), triggered protests and was later dropped.

Kamaraj expands free schooling and midday meals

The Kamaraj government opened thousands of schools, extended free education and expanded free midday meals for schoolchildren.

Assembly adopts the two-language policy

The Madras Legislative Assembly scrapped the three-language formula and removed Hindi from the school curriculum, adopting Tamil and English.

Nutritious Noon Meal Scheme launched

MGR's government expanded the school midday meal into a universal Nutritious Noon Meal Scheme for children across Tamil Nadu.

Eggs added to the noon meal

Karunanidhi announced an egg once every two weeks with the noon meal, the first step towards eggs on every school day by 2010.

Free bicycles for higher secondary students

Free bicycles for higher secondary students were introduced by the Jayalalithaa government, and the scheme later reached every Class 11 student.

Kumbakonam school fire

A fire at a school in Kumbakonam killed 94 children after a thatched roof caught fire, leading to new school safety rules.

Samacheer Kalvi: uniform school education

Tamil Nadu introduced a common syllabus across state, matriculation and other school boards; the Supreme Court upheld it in 2011.

Free laptop scheme for students

Students at government and aided schools and colleges started receiving free laptops from the AIADMK government.

Illam Thedi Kalvi launched

A volunteer-led programme was launched to help school children recover learning lost during COVID-19 school closures.

Violence at Kaniyamoor school over student's death

Protests over the death of a Class 12 student at a private residential school in Kallakurichi district turned violent.

Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme launched

Free breakfast for children in government primary schools began in Madurai and was later extended to all government primary schools.

Nanguneri attack on Dalit student and his sister

A 17-year-old Dalit student and his sister were attacked with sickles at home in Nanguneri by schoolmates from dominant castes.