Chennai, June 4: The Tamil Nadu Department of School Education has taken significant steps to ensure that no student is left behind in pursuing higher education. The department has instructed all district collectors to establish district-level control rooms by June 5. This initiative aims to guarantee that every eligible student who has completed 12th grade secures admission to a higher education or technical institution.
This initiative, which began last year, will be implemented from June to October this year. It will encompass 544,000 students enrolled in 12th grade for the academic year 2025-26. Among these, 355,000 students are from government schools, while 189,000 are from government-aided institutions.
B. Chandra Mohan, the Principal Secretary of the School Education Department, has directed district administrations in a letter to appoint deputy collectors to lead the control rooms. These rooms will serve as nodal centers to monitor students completing higher secondary education.
Officials associated with the program stated that district-level teams will utilize data from the Educational Management Information System (EMIS) to identify students who have not applied for higher education courses, failed board exams, skipped exams, or did not register for supplementary exams.
Following this, teams will intervene to address barriers preventing students from continuing their education. Each district control room will consist of approximately 15 members drawn from various departments, including education, revenue, police, health, and social welfare.
These teams will provide counseling, guidance on admissions, assistance in obtaining necessary certificates, scholarship support, and help accessing financial aid programs.
Special attention will be given to students from marginalized and disadvantaged backgrounds. This includes students from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, children without parental support, differently-abled students, refugees, candidates seeking admission under sports quotas, students from single-parent families, and those pursuing vocational subjects.
To strengthen monitoring, the School Education Department will also establish a state-level control room. This central unit will oversee admissions to colleges and polytechnic institutions, monitor seat vacancies, and guide district officials in facilitating the admission process.
As part of this initiative, district collectors have been instructed to hold special meetings every fortnight to address student grievances. The primary goal of these sessions is to resolve admission-related issues and facilitate on-the-spot admissions wherever possible. District administrations are required to submit weekly progress reports to the state-level control room to ensure continuous monitoring of enrollment levels and to guarantee that no eligible student is deprived of higher education opportunities.
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