Thirukkural, known for its brilliant and timeless elucidation of moral ethics of life, is written by a celebrated Tamil poet and philosopher, Thiruvalluvar. In one of the many couplets he wrote, he says, “it is a pleasure to meet a scholar, a pain to part with him.” In fact, Tamil Nadu is a place that fascinates every scholar, and it is difficult to part with this land of wisdom once we get to know its people and culture in deep. The state has a rich history of developing its education system to express and promote its unique socio-cultural identity and to meet the challenges of the times.
Till the end of 1960, Tamil Nadu had three major universities in Madras, Chidambaram and Madurai, offering excellent higher education opportunities to students from all over the country. From the early 1970s, Tamil Nadu has seen a vertical expansion of higher educational institutions, enabling the middle-class and lower-middle-class people to get an education beyond schools. The state government was also generous in offering scholarships and incentive schemes to bring all the people under the shelter of higher education. On the other side, great academicians of the state designed the syllabus and curriculum to suit the need of rural pupils and helped them in getting their degrees, which further enabled them to gain employment.
Today, Tamil Nadu houses hundreds of universities and thousands of colleges, offering UG, PG, and research level programs in various disciplines in regular and distance mode. The colleges and Universities have provided scope for not only the people of the state but also for the students from other states. In this special issue, we have identified 10 Must-Watch Colleges in Tamil Nadu that are at the forefront of providing quality education to students across the country. On the cover, we feature Agni College of Technology (ACT) that shares a principal goal to provide students with high-quality research training and making sure that students are open to innovation throughout their lives.
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