As of 2019, only 24% of schools in Tamil Nadu have internet facilities and not all classrooms in one in five schools are in good condition, according to the Unescos state of education report.

The report comes at a time when schools are preparing to reopen after a gap of 19 months for Classes I to VIII from November 1 and indicates that many may need a major facelift before they welcome students. Experts said the state must form multi-department teams to inspect schools and classrooms and make them safer for children.

Unesco released its State of the Education Report for India 2021: No Teachers, No Class after analysing data from Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+) for 2018-19.

The report found that 4% or 2,631 of TNs total 59,152 schools had just one teacher. Among the southern states, (16%), Andhra Pradesh (14%) and Karnataka have more single-teacher schools and only Kerala (2%) has fewer such schools than Tamil Nadu.

The report also found that only 61% of TN schools have libraries. However, most schools had functional toilets for boys and girls before the pandemic.