### Education Statistics
Tamil Nadu is consistently ranked among the top states in India for education and academic excellence.
* **Literacy Rate:** 80.33% (as per the 2011 Census), well above the national average. Current estimates place it significantly higher. * **Higher Education:** The state boasts the highest Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education in India, crossing 51% (compared to a national average of around 27%). * **Top Institutions:** * **IIT Madras:** Consistently ranked #1 in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) for engineering and overall categories. * **Anna University:** A premier state university for engineering and technology. * **NIT Tiruchirappalli (NIT Trichy):** Highly ranked nationally among engineering institutes. * **Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore:** Regularly ranked among the top medical colleges in India. * **School System:** Operates on the Samacheer Kalvi (Uniform System of School Education) board, alongside CBSE and ICSE affiliated schools.