Tamil Nadu’s revised budget for 2026–27 reduces the state’s allocation for school education and fails to adequately resource child protection and mental health services, a rights organisation has warned.
Reduction in school education allocation
The Tamil Nadu Child Rights Watch (TNCRW), with research support from the Institution for Development Education and Action (IDEA), says the revised spending plan shows an overall increase in some areas but a decline in funding for school education. The report notes the education budget rose to Rs 46,767 crore in 2025–26 from Rs 44,042.08 crore in 2024–25, before falling back to Rs 44,527 crore in 2026–27 — a drop of roughly 4.8% compared with the previous year.
| Year | School education allocation (Rs crore) | Social welfare (Rs crore) |
|---|---|---|
| 2024–25 | 44,042.08 | 7,830 |
| 2025–26 | 46,767 | 8,597 |
| 2026–27 | 44,527 | 9,818 |
TNCRW highlights the paradox that funding for schools declines even as the government proposes new programmes in areas such as artificial intelligence, robotics, coding, entrepreneurship and digital learning.
Child protection and service gaps
The report criticises the budget’s treatment of child protection as marginal. It estimates that expenditure on child protection remains below 0.6% of the State budget and urges a gradual increase to between 2–3%.
TNCRW argues the State should shift from a ‘human capital’ approach to budgeting towards a comprehensive child-rights framework covering survival, development, protection and participation.
Specific shortfalls identified include persistent teacher vacancies, a lack of adequate counselling provision, the absence of school social workers and weak safeguarding systems. TNCRW says these gaps are not addressed meaningfully in the revised estimates.
Recommendations and priorities
To strengthen in-school support and safer learning environments, the rights group sets out a series of immediate and medium-term measures. These include:
- appointing one teacher for every class and carrying out permanent recruitment to fill vacancies;
- ensuring a physical education teacher in every school;
- providing counselling services in secondary schools and training school social workers;
- making school infrastructure disability-friendly and climate-resilient;
- establishing Child Rights Clubs and mandating Child Protection and Safeguarding Policies in schools.
The report also calls for stronger support for the State’s 38 District Child Protection Units (DCPUs), proposing an annual State-wide allocation of around Rs 30–35 crore to bolster their work.
Shifts in social welfare spending
While the TNCRW criticises the reduced education allocation, it acknowledges a significant rise in social welfare expenditure, from Rs 7,830 crore in 2024–25 to Rs 9,818 crore in 2026–27. However, the group questions how those resources are distributed, noting that substantial sums channelled to schemes such as gold and marriage assistance could crowd out longer-term investment in child protection and women’s empowerment.
The watchdog’s analysis suggests a rebalancing is needed so that immediate welfare support does not come at the expense of building robust child-focused systems that prevent abuse, support mental health and ensure continuity of learning.
Implications for classroom practice
For teachers and school leaders, the report’s findings underscore persistent pressures in the classroom: unfilled posts, insufficient counselling support for pupils and inadequate safeguarding capacity. If the State’s ambition for tech-driven education is to translate into improved outcomes, TNCRW argues that it must be accompanied by basic staffing, wellbeing and protection investments.
The revised budget offers scope for new initiatives but, according to the rights group, fails to tackle foundational deficits that determine whether children can learn safely and thrive in school.
