Chennai: From the 2026-2027 academic year, students of classes I-III studying in Tamil Nadu state board and govt schools will get a unique syllabus, covering a variety of subjects, including life skills and personality development. The new textbooks are being drafted as per the new curriculum designed by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT).

“As of now, officials are processing the suggestions and feedback received for the curriculum, and exploring ways to incorporate them into the books. Textbooks for other classes will be released from the 2027-28 academic year,” school education secretary B Chandramohan told TOI.

Earlier this month, the govt released a draft curriculum designed in line with the state education policy (SEP) for classes I-V, incorporating lessons such as ‘first aid and safety’, ‘understanding self-identities’ and ‘developing self-care routines’, and ‘developing a positive outlook’, for public feedback. SCERT officials even convened physical meetings, inviting educationists and experts to provide feedback.

Officials from the school education department confirmed that while textbook printing had begun for classes IV-XII for the 2026-27 academic year, printing will only begin late Feb for classes I-III. “The feedback meeting (for the draft curriculum) will go on till Feb 10. Parallelly, book preparation is underway. Once suggestions are collated, they have to be incorporated as draft. Only after that will the printing begin,” school education director S Kannappan said.

He also denied the possibility of delays in printing and dispatching the books for classes I-III, even if the process begins late. “For classes I-III, the books won’t be very text-heavy. They will hardly be 75 to 100 pages long. There are more than 100 printing presses associated with the department, and even if the printing begins by late March or April, schools will receive them on time,” he added.

Meanwhile, a faculty member with the SCERT said that owing to a time crunch, not all valid suggestions could be incorporated into the books since the book preparation has begun.

In Nov last year, the govt formed a high-level expert committee headed by the school education minister and a curriculum design committee to develop curricular frameworks and syllabi in accordance with the SEP. SCERT officials said the new curriculum for classes VI-XII is being worked on at the moment.

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