The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, accusing his government of crippling the state's education system with "disastrous policies" while using language politics as a distraction. "Tamil Nadu’s education system is collapsing because of disastrous policies, and DMK is directly responsible for it. Instead of fixing schools, they’re playing language politics to cover up their failures," the BJP said in a series of posts on X.
The party cited the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2024, claiming that Tamil Nadu’s students were falling behind. "Between 2018-2022, the percentage of Std VIII students who can read Std II-level text dropped by 12%, while BJP-ruled states like UP, Gujarat & Haryana improved. DMK has FAILED an entire generation."
The saffron party also criticised Stalin for rejecting ₹10,000 crore in central education funding, stating that the DMK’s dynastic model feared a well-educated, self-reliant generation. "After the introduction of the New Education Policy 2020, CM Stalin chose to reject ₹10,000 crore in central education funding, which had the potential to fund thousands of students’ education. The DMK's dynastic model fears a well-educated, self-reliant generation which could reshape the political landscape, and that’s what truly worries the DMK."
The party accused the DMK of blocking Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNVs), defying a Madras High Court order from 2017. "While UP has 96 JNVs (48,000+ students), Karnataka has 31 (15,500+), and Gujarat has 34 (17,000+), Tamil Nadu has zero."
The BJP alleged that Tamil Nadu’s education system has suffered under Stalin’s leadership, citing a drop in Tamil-medium enrollment from 65.87 lakh in 2018-19 to 46.83 lakh in 2023-24. "DMK’s failed education policies have crippled Tamil-medium enrollment. As the system collapses under their mismanagement, parents are forced to abandon Tamil-medium schools. DMK isn’t protecting Tamil, it’s destroying it."
Stalin refuses to implement NEP
On Tuesday, Stalin once again voiced his opposition to the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, stating that he would not implement it even if offered ₹10,000 crore. Speaking at an event in Chengalpattu, he alleged that the Union government was blackmailing Tamil Nadu over education funding.
"You all would have seen what happened in Parliament yesterday. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan arrogantly said that funds that are supposed to be provided to Tamil Nadu will only be released if the three-language formula is applied in the state, and by accepting Hindi and Sanskrit," Stalin said.
"They only wish to destroy Tamil Nadu’s education policy. But we oppose it," he said adding that Tamil Nadu would never accept NEP, branding it as a "devastating Nagpur scheme" linked to RSS ideology. "That is why, like I said earlier, not just ₹2,000 crore, we will not accept your devastating Nagpur scheme even if you give ₹10,000 crore, and I repeat it again on this stage," he said.
The BJP hit back, accusing Stalin of playing politics at the cost of Tamil Nadu’s students while sending DMK leaders’ children to elite global schools. "Tamil Nadu’s students are hostages to DMK’s regressive politics. Instead of embracing NEP 2020 to modernise education, DMK sabotaged it for its electoral gains. Meanwhile, DMK elites send their kids to top global schools while denying quality education to the poor. The hypocrisy is sickening. TN deserves better than Stalin’s dynasty politics."