PRESS RELEASE Under the chairmanship of Hon'ble Minister for School Education, Tamil Development, Information and Publicity Thiru Raj Mohan, a review meeting on School Education Department matters was held today (18.05.2026) with Government Additional Chief Secretary Dr. Santhamohan B, IAS, and senior education officials. At this review meeting, nine new textbooks prepared under the new curriculum for Classes 1, 2 and 3 were released. These textbooks have been designed so that students can easily understand and learn, develop individual talents, and achieve the expected learning outcomes. To promote a child-centred learning approach, the textbooks have been designed to enable learning through stories, songs and learning activities that children enjoy the most, and to enhance students' learning abilities. Further, the textbooks have been prepared with attractive, colourful design and content covering students' motor skills, socio-emotional skills, values, and life skills. The Hon'ble Minister for School Education announced that for the academic year 2026-27, all government, government-aided and private schools functioning in Tamil Nadu will reopen after the summer vacation on Monday, 1.06.2026. The Hon'ble Minister instructed officials to take necessary steps to ensure that the required textbooks for all students from Class 1 to Class 12 in government and government-aided schools are printed by the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation, dispatched to the districts, and kept ready for distribution on the day schools reopen. He also announced that, as new textbooks are being introduced this academic year, training on the new textbooks and teaching techniques for teachers handling Classes 1 to 3 will be conducted from 01.06.2026 to 03.06.2026. With schools set to reopen after the summer vacation, he issued the following instructions regarding preparatory work to be undertaken in all schools: • All education officials, headmasters and teachers must work together to ensure that free welfare scheme items for the academic year 2026-27 (textbooks, notebooks, uniforms, school bags) reach every student on the day schools reopen. • Smart Boards and Hi-Tech computer labs in schools must be ensured to have proper internet connectivity suitable for student use. • The school campus, classrooms, kitchen, toilets, drinking water storage tank and handwashing areas must be kept clean and ready for use by students and teachers. • Any unwanted or unused items in the school campus or classrooms must be removed. • The drinking water tank for student use must be cleaned with disinfectant to ensure clean and safe drinking water for students. • Toilets must be ensured to have adequate water supply for student use. • Septic tanks, wells and borewells within the school campus must be kept covered and not left open, and maintained in a manner that poses no safety threat to students. • Transfer certificates must be issued immediately through EMIS for students completing Class 5, Class 8 and Class 10 in primary, middle and higher secondary schools. • Headmasters of schools must ensure that students completing Class 5/Class 8 in the academic year 2025-26 are admitted to Class 6/Class 9 respectively in the nearest government/government-aided middle school/high school/higher secondary school. • The safety of girl children within the school campus must be ensured. He directed all headmasters to follow the above instructions, and stated that all Block Education Officers/District Education Officers/District Chief Education Officers must monitor this. The meeting was attended by Teachers Recruitment Board Chairperson and State Project Director for Integrated School Education Dr. S. Jayanthi, IAS, Member Secretary, Model Schools Thiru Ira. Sudhan, IAS (Retd.), Director of School Education Dr. S. Kannappan, Director of Elementary Education Dr. Poo. A. Naresh, and other Directors, Joint Directors and senior officials. Issued by: Director, Directorate of Information and Public Relations, Chennai-9