Education in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu 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 (GER) in primary and upper primary education. School education. The structure of education in the state is based on the national level pattern with 12 years of schooling (10+2+3), 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 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. Tamil Nadu Board of Secondary Education, established in 1910, is under the purview of the Department of Education, Government of Tamil Nadu, 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 (combined with the class 11)board examinations are used by universities to determine eligibility and as a cut-off for admissions into their programmes . Medium of instruction. Common: Peculiar Cases: Accreditation. All recognized schools belong to one of the following accreditation systems: Exceptions to the above rule include a few schools that follow the Montessori method, International Baccalaureate, IGCSE or the American system. Directorates. 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. Government of Tamil Nadu's scheme. Some of the schemes introduced by the Tamil Nadu government in school education are Higher education . Tamil Nadu has 37 universities, 552 (in 2014) engineering colleges. and 1150 arts college, 2550 schools and 5000 hospitals. Tamil Nadu Directorate Of Technical Education (TNDTE) 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, External links. Private board