Tamil Nadu to beat deadline, achieve full literacy by 2025 end
However, TN, one of the largest states with over eight crore population, has achieved this feat in just three years.
Elderly men and women attend a literacy test at an NILP centre in Cuddalore
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu is set to achieve full literacy by the end of 2025, two years ahead of the deadline set by the Union government. This will be attained after the state Directorate of Non-Formal and Adult Education (DNFE) will conduct the final round of assessment by November under the New India Literacy Programme (NILP).
NILP, under the Ministry of Education, is a five-year programme from financial years 2022-27 to educate adults in India. However, TN, one of the largest states with over eight crore population, has achieved this feat in just three years. TN officials claim that the government had set 2026 as the target to achieve full literacy.
Meanwhile, sources say that Ladakh, with over 3.02 lakh population, has already achieved full literacy with Goa (15.75 lakh population), and Mizoram (12.38 lakh population) is in line to announce full literacy in the future, but these are states with lesser population compared to TN.
Literacy is achieved when a learner above the age of seven (studying in class 2) is able to read, write and do basic arithmetic. A state/country is declared fully literate when it achieves 95% literacy.
Explaining how TN will achieve this mark, S Nagaraja Murugan, director of DNFE, under the Directorate of School Education, said, “The literacy rate of Tamil Nadu 80.09%, as per the 2011 census. However, over the span of 14 years, the state has shown outstanding performance with a few districts already bypassing the 95% literacy mark. Hence, we will be able to declare full literacy by 2025-end.”
“A few northern districts, like Thiruvanamalai, Salem and Dharmapuri, have uneducated persons in some concentrated regions; they will be included in the November FLNAT,” noted the director.
Meanwhile, according to the data of Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2023-24 in connection with the Sustainable Development Goals India index 4.0, TN was performer number one under SDG 4.6 (percentage of persons 15 years and above) who are literate.
With the mission to eradicate illiteracy, DNFE under the state government has been conducting the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Programme (FLNAT) from 2022-23 academic year for learners above 15 years across the country.
“TN, despite its population, has achieved this feat within the deadline set by both the state and union governments, which is 2026 and 2027, respectively. Among the districts, Ramanathapuram has already achieved full literacy, with 230 learners recently clearing the FLNAT,” added the director.
And, as per DNFE data, from 2022-23 till June 2025, 20.56 lakh adults in the age group of 15 years and above have been benefited and provided basic literacy under NILP. Of the 20.56 lakh, the majority are women (16.75 lakh) who had appeared and cleared FLNAT, which is 81.48% of the total beneficiaries.
The NILP is implemented with 60% funds allocation from the centre and 40% from the state, and TN has been allocated Rs 25.80 crore in the 2025-26 academic year.
The FLNAT is conducted for a total of 150 marks, with 50 marks each to test reading, writing and basic arithmetic skills. The learner appearing for the assessment will have to secure 40 as the pass mark.
Hence, as part of the first round of assessment conducted on June 15 for the 2025-26 academic year, over 5.37 lakh learners appeared for the exam in 30,191 exam centres, with each volunteer allotted for one centre across the state. In the June 15 assessment, where Tamil Nadu secured full pass percentage, more than 42 lakh women and over 10 lakh men aced the exam.
