# TN education spend falls to one-third of 2000 level, alleges PMK MP 2026-08-09T10:48:10+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet PMK president and Rajya Sabha MP Anbumani Ramadoss on Saturday alleged that Tamil Nadu's allocation for education as a proportion of its Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) had fallen to nearly one-third of the level 25 years ago. He questioned whether government schools were being deliberately weakened to benefit private institutions. In a statement, Ramadoss said the combined allocation for School Education and Higher Education dropped from 3.92% of GSDP in 2000-01 to 1.30% in 2026-27. While ₹4,949 crore was allocated in 2000-01, the current allocation is ₹52,920 crore against an estimated GSDP of ₹40.67 lakh crore. He also cited central data showing government school enrolment fell from 75.52 lakh in 2015-16 to 43.03 lakh in 2025-26, while private school enrolment rose from 36.56 lakh to 62.03 lakh. He urged the state to spend at least 3% of GSDP on education and ensure every government school has a teacher per class. ## Coverage - thehindu.com Tags: Anbumani Ramadoss, education budget, government schools, GSDP, private schools, Tamil Nadu Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/tn-education-spend-falls-to-one-third-of-2000-level-alleges-pmk-mp/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/tn-education-spend-falls-to-one-third-of-2000-level-alleges-pmk-mp/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.