The school system in Chennai consists of an array of structured systems. Children typically start school (junior or lower kindergarten) at the age of three, progressing to senior or upper kindergarten followed by twelve years of study. Class 10 and class 12 involve taking public examinations conducted by various accreditation boards. Most of the schools are accredited to Tamil Nadu State Board.

Administrative categories

Chennai schools fall into two administrative categories - government schools called corporation schools, and privately run schools. Private schools fall under the following categories: schools with central board syllabus, schools with state board syllabus, schools with matriculation syllabus, schools with Anglo-Indian syllabus and schools with Oriental syllabus. In privately managed state board syllabus schools there are two categories: self-financing and government-aided schools. In some government-aided schools a few sections may also be self-financing. From the academic year of 2011, the Government of Tamil Nadu has brought in the "Samachiyar Kalvi" syllabus to replace Anglo-Indian, state, Oriental and matriculation modes of education. Now only the following syllabi are available in Tamil Nadu: Samachyar Kalvi, CBSE, ICSE and IGCSE.

Medium of instruction

Most private schools are English medium (medium of instruction is English) while the government-run schools are primarily Tamil medium. The schools run by the central government have a dual medium of instruction - English and Hindi.

Accreditation

All recognized schools belong to one of the following accreditation systems: Exceptions to the above rule include a few schools that follow the Montessori method, International Baccalaureate or the American system.

Schools