is one of the most literate states in India. The state's literacy rate is 80.33% in 2011, which is above the national average. A survey conducted by the Industry body Assocham ranks Tamil Nadu top among Indian states with about 100% Gross Enrollment Ratio in primary and upper primary education.
The structure of education in the state is based on the national level pattern with 12 years of schooling, consisting of eight years of elementary education, that is, five years of primary and three years of middle school education for the age groups of 6-11 and 11–14 years, respectively, followed by secondary and higher Secondary education of two years each besides two years of pre-primary education. The entry age in class 1 is 5+. Pre-primary classes form age group 3 to 4. The higher secondary school certificate enables pupils to pursue studies either in universities or in colleges for higher education in general academic streams and in technical and professional courses.
Enrollment
There were a total of 12,855,485 children enrolled across the state as of 2010, with the split up of 9,797,264 students in primary, 1,873,989 in secondary and 1,184,232 in higher secondary classrooms.
Tamil Nadu Board of Secondary Education
, established in 1910, is under the purview of the , , India. The Tamil Nadu State Board of School Examination evaluates students' progress by conducting three board examinations-one at the end of class 10 and the others at the end of class 11 & 12. The scores from the class 12 board examinations are used by universities to determine eligibility and as a cut-off for admissions into their programmes.
The Minister of Education, who is a member of the state legislature, is in overall charge of education in the state. The following Directorates implement those education aspects which are under the control of the School Education Department.
ITI Certificate - Regulated by Department of Employment and Training and National Council for Vocational Training
Higher education
Tamil Nadu has 37 universities, 552 engineering colleges. and 1150 arts college, 2550 schools and 5000 hospitals. Tamil Nadu Directorate Of Technical Education under the control of the Tamil Nadu Higher Education Department deals with Diploma, Post Diploma, Degree, Post Graduate courses and Research programmes. It also regulates the establishment of technical institutions including commerce institutions such as Typewriting, Shorthand and Accountancy.
Universities
Two types of universities in Tamil Nadu are,
Public University or Government University. It is run by State Governments of Union of India or Government of Union of India
