Chennai’s education authorities are gearing up for a massive push in primary schooling with the rollout of a 100-Day Learning Challenge across more than 14,000 schools. Starting from the third week of February, this initiative targets students in classes 1 through 5, aiming to bolster their foundational skills in reading and mathematics.
The program builds on the resounding success of a pilot run during the 2024-25 academic year. In that phase, assessments in 4,552 primary schools revealed tangible improvements in students’ abilities to read Tamil and English fluently, as well as master basic arithmetic like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. These evaluations used a structured tool crafted by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) in collaboration with teacher trainers from regional resource centers.
Encouraged by these results, the Directorate of Elementary Education (DEE) has decided to scale up dramatically for the 2025-26 session. Officials report that a similar open challenge launched in December 2024 for Tamil, English, and math yielded impressive outcomes, integrated seamlessly as a special intervention alongside regular classes.
The spark for this ambitious plan came in November 2024 during a visit by School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozi to T. Pudur Panchayat Union Primary School. Observing students firsthand at the invitation of the headmistress, the minister highlighted the urgent need for targeted, time-bound interventions to address learning gaps at the primary level.
Over the next 100 days, rigorous monitoring and periodic assessments will track progress, ensuring measurable gains in literacy and numeracy. This expansion is being hailed as a pivotal step toward strengthening early education across Tamil Nadu, potentially benefiting hundreds of thousands of young learners and setting a benchmark for educational reforms in the state.