New policy new content: State calls experts, creative thinkers to create new textbooks under SEP

CHENNAI: As the implementation of the Tamil Nadu State Education Policy (SEP-2025) is under way, the School Education department has invited writers, teachers, subject experts and creative thinkers to craft the next generation of school board textbooks aligned with the policy.

The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), under the School Education department, has been entrusted to select the qualified experts and develop new textbooks for primary (classes 1 to 5) and middle school (classes 6 to 8) levels for Tamil, English, Mathematics, Science and Social Science subjects.

Chief Minister MK Stalin unveiled the SEP in August 2025, after disapproving of the National Education Policy (NEP-2020), by asserting the two-language formula, making Tamil compulsory across all boards, including CBSE and ICSE, and scrapping the class 11 board exams for the 2025-26 academic year.

The SEP was released in 2025 after more than four years of debate and delays, stressing state autonomy in education.

A senior School Education department official said that "applications are welcomed from individuals willing to participate voluntarily in this process".

Justifying the contribution of writers, teachers, subject experts, and creative thinkers for the new textbooks, he said, "It would contribute to statewide educational transformation, influence how lakhs of children understand and enjoy learning and showcase the experts' creativity through meaningful and child-friendly lessons."

"Teaching experience and expertise in methodologies, previous participation in textbook or related content development, and evaluation of the sample lesson submitted will be taken into consideration when selecting resource persons," the official said

He said that the selected candidates will be informed of further procedures, and they will have to prepare a sample lesson plan on the topics assigned by SCERT and submit it by December 26.