The fight for an equitable education: How Samacheer Kalvi came to existence in Tamil Nadu

In 2011, the transition to the uniform system of school education in Tamil Nadu faced a political hurdle when the AIADMK came to power

Until 2010, Tamil Nadu was the only State in the country to operate four school boards -- State Board, Matriculation, Oriental School Leaving Certificate (OSLC) and Anglo Indian. While the learning content remained the same, the textbooks were different and exams were conducted separately for each by the School Education Department.

For a long time, educationists kept demanding that all the boards be merged to bring about Equitable Standard School Education. The purpose was to eliminate inequality in education quality and ensure all students received the same learning opportunities, irrespective of their school's management or location.

In the run-up to the 2006 Assembly elections, the DMK in its manifesto promised to introduce a uniform system of school education.

After coming to power, the M. Karunanidhi Government appointed a committee under the chairmanship of S. Muthukumaran, former Vice-Chancellor of Bharathidasan University, to study the feasibility of the proposal. The panel, in its report, submitted on July 7, 2007, recommended the introduction of a common education system after abolishing the four different boards in existence in the State.

School teachers receiving Samacheer Kalvi textbooks at in Kancheepuram on August 13, 2011 | Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives

An ordinance was promulgated in 2009 to begin implementing the Equitable Standard School Education. Thereafter, the Tamil Nadu Uniform System of School Education Act, 2010 was enacted. Under this, the four Boards of Education were merged to offer "Samacheer Kalvi" (uniform education). The next task was to frame syllabus and produce textbooks.

"The new syllabus seeks to equip students to face challenges with courage and confidence," said then School Education Minister Thangam Thennarasu.

"It is believed that the disparity in the boards, with Matriculation being considered superior and more competitive in many respects, has often led to the choice of private, English medium schooling, over the State system despite the cost factor," The Hindu reported in 2010.

As per the plan, in the first phase, the syllabus and textbooks were made available for Classes 1 and 6, and the same was rolled out in the academic year 2010-2011. The following year, textbooks for Classes 2 to 10 and board exam patterns were to be introduced with practical exams in the mix for government schools from Class 9 onwards.

Political hurdle

The transition, however, faced a political hurdle soon thereafter. The DMK was trounced by the AIADMK in the 2011 Assembly elections and J. Jayalalithaa assumed charge as Chief Minister. She was in no mood to continue a scheme introduced by her political rival and predecessor in office. Her government announced that the implementation of Samacheer Kalvi was being deferred.

"The 'uniform system of education' introduced by the previous regime lacked equity or uniformity and showed no concern for educational standards, and confined itself to a new syllabus. This was why the present government had put it on hold," Jayalalithaa said, according to a report in The Hindu.

Textbooks for the new curriculum were ready, but confusion arose in the education sector as to what would be next. The new academic year kicked in, but for nearly two months, school students in Tamil Nadu had no textbooks or certainty about which syllabus they were going to learn that academic year.

The Jayalalithaa government planned to set up a committee to devise ways of implementing 'Samacheer Kalvi' in a manner that would give students a bright future and impart quality education to all. Due to this, the reopening of schools was postponed to June 15 that year until clarity on the implementation of Samacheer Kalvi was given.

Legal battle

Following this, petitions were filed in the Madras High Court, which stayed the operation of the amended Act. However, the State moved the Supreme Court seeking to vacate the stay order.

The Supreme Court directed the State to continue with Samacheer Kalvi for Class 1 and 6, and set up a panel to examine the new syllabus and submit a report to the Madras High Court in three weeks.

School teachers deleting paragraphs, portions in the Samacheer Kalvi textbooks propagating the achievements of a political party and individual at Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Kancheepuram on August 13, 2011 | Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives

Meanwhile, schools reopened without textbooks or syllabus to students learning through activity-based teaching.

The committee set up by the State included former CBSE Director G. Balasubramanian and Y.G. Parthasarathy, the founder of a private CBSE school. The committee submitted a 600-page report on the syllabus.

But, as a relief for schools, parents and students, the Supreme Court in August 2011 directed the State government to implement the Uniform System of School Education. A Bench of Justices J.M. Panchal, Deepak Verma and B.S. Chauhan directed the government to implement it for all classes up to Class 10 within 10 days.

Jayalalithaa then announced in the Legislative Assembly that the government would implement the USSE immediately. The textbooks were finally distributed to students.

While the State continues to implement Samacheer Kalvi, the school education landscape has since changed with many of the erstwhile matriculation schools getting affiliated to the CBSE.