The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday ordered notice to the State on a public interest litigation petition that sought a direction to the government to take necessary steps to upgrade the existing Adi Dravidar Welfare schools with hostels in Tamil Nadu into high-standard residential schools with Central government’s assistance.
A Division Bench of Justices Anita Sumanth and C. Kumarappan was hearing the petition filed by C. Selvakumar of Madurai. The petitioner said the Adi Dravidar Welfare Department was running 1,138 schools — 833 primary schools, 99 middle schools, 108 high schools, and 98 higher secondary schools — across the State. In addition to this, 1,131 hostels had been established to provide residential support for Scheduled Caste students.
Despite the infrastructure, student enrolment had been steadily declining. As per the official data published on the department’s website, for the academic year 2024–2025, the total enrolment stood at 76,300 students, a 20% decrease compared to previous years. Many hostels were under-utilised and functioning with a very few students, he said.
In Madurai district alone, 57 hostels were established, but most of them functioned with poor enrolment and often remained empty. Hostel wardens were frequently absent during working hours and in many cases the hostels were located far away from educational institutions, discouraging students from availing themselves of the facilities, he said.
Several schools in other districts such as Thanjavur, Cuddalore, Tirunelveli, Villupuram, Sivaganga, Vellore, and Dharmapuri were functioning without teachers, and there were vacancies in teaching positions in many subjects in various schools as confirmed in the proceedings of the Directorate of Adi Dravidar Welfare, he said.
He said although successive governments announced welfare measures for SC students, ineffective implementation by officials resulted in declining enrolment and deterioration in educational standards. Tamil Nadu already had sufficient infrastructure of schools and hostels under the Adi Dravidar Welfare Department.
If these institutions were consolidated and upgraded into high-standard residential schools with Central Government’s assistance, it would increase student enrolment, provide quality coaching for national-level competitive examinations, enhance overall educational standards, and improve the socio-economic conditions of SC students, the petitioner said. The court adjourned the hearing till November 6.
Published – October 07, 2025 09:46 pm IST
