The Tamil Nadu government on June 29, 2026 appointed former ISRO scientist Mylswamy Annadurai as the Chairman of the Curriculum Design Committee (CDC) for School Education, replacing Sultan Ahmed Ismail who stepped down following the change in government. The appointment, part of a reconstituted 17-member panel, comes with a three-year tenure and a mandate to redesign the syllabus for over 1.3 crore students across the state. Annadurai, known as the “Moon Man of India” for his role in the Chandrayaan-1 mission, will lead efforts to align the curriculum with the Tamil Nadu State Education Policy (SEP) 2025 with a focus on critical thinking, science, technology, and artificial intelligence.
Who Is Mylswamy Annadurai?
Born on July 2, 1958 in Kothavadi village in the Coimbatore district, Mylswamy Annadurai completed his early education in government schools near Pollachi. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from the Government College of Technology, Coimbatore in 1980, followed by a Master’s degree from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, and a PhD from Anna University, Coimbatore. He joined the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 1982 and served for 36 years, rising through the ranks to eventually become the Director of the U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) in Bengaluru from 2015 to 2018. During his tenure, he oversaw the development and launch of a record 30 state-of-the-art satellites. For his contributions, he was awarded the Padma Shri in 2016, one of India’s highest civilian honours.
A Storied Career at ISRO
Annadurai is best known for his leadership of India’s two most celebrated interplanetary missions. He served as Project Director of Chandrayaan-1, India’s first lunar mission launched in October 2008, which made the pathbreaking discovery of water molecules on the Moon. The mission, launched aboard a PSLV-C11 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, put India in an elite group of nations exploring the lunar surface.
He then served as Programme Director of the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan), launched in November 2013. The spacecraft successfully entered Mars orbit in September 2014, making India the first country in the world to succeed in its maiden attempt at a Mars mission, and only the fourth space agency overall after NASA, the Russian Federal Space Agency, and the European Space Agency. Annadurai also played a key leadership role in Chandrayaan-2 and contributed to the operationalisation of the NAVIC satellite navigation constellation.
Beyond his technical work, Annadurai has been a passionate science communicator. He has written popular science columns in the Tamil newspaper Kungumam and authored books, including Kaiyiruke Nila (Moon Within Reach). He frequently delivers lectures at schools and colleges to inspire young students to take up careers in science and technology.
The Curriculum Design Committee: Mandate and Composition
The Curriculum Design Committee (CDC) was originally constituted in November 2025 alongside a High-Level Expert Committee as part of the state’s plan to overhaul its school curriculum under the Tamil Nadu State Education Policy (SEP) 2025. While the High-Level Expert Committee is chaired by the School Education Minister and includes notable figures such as ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan and cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin, the CDC is responsible for the detailed work of redesigning the curriculum, syllabus, teaching methods, and assessment systems.
The reconstituted 17-member committee includes:
| Member | Role/Expertise |
|---|---|
| Mylswamy Annadurai | Chairman, former ISRO scientist |
| Rita John | Physicist and Registrar, Madras University |
| T. V. Venkateswaran | Scientist, IISER Mohali |
| K. Rajan | Historian and Archaeologist |
| Anantajit Makia | Right to Education activist, TVK spokesperson |
| M. Sudhandhiramuthu | Tamil scholar |
| N. Madhivanan | Botanist |
| T. Ashokan | Historian |
| S. Angel Rathnabai | IT expert |
| Uma Raman | English language teaching expert |
| P. Mahaveer | Mathematician |
| Maniam Selvan | Artist |
| R. Chandana Devan | Educationist |
| M. Selvam | DIET Principal |
| S. Dhilip | National award-winning government school teacher |
The Director of SCERT (State Council of Educational Research and Training) serves as the Member-Secretary, while senior officials from the School Education Department serve as ex-officio members. The government has also authorised SCERT to constitute sub-committees for syllabus development, textbook preparation, and other academic activities.
Aligning with the State Education Policy 2025
The Tamil Nadu government launched its own State Education Policy (SEP) 2025 in August 2025, marking a significant departure from the Centre’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The SEP retains Tamil Nadu’s long-standing two-language formula (Tamil and English) and rejects the three-language formula that the state views as an indirect means to impose Hindi. The policy is built on the principles of social justice, equity, and Tamil Nadu’s Dravidian heritage.
Key focus areas of SEP 2025 that the CDC must integrate into the new curriculum include:
- Competency-based and experiential learning over rote memorisation
- 21st-century skills such as critical thinking, creativity, financial literacy, and digital competence
- Climate education and environmental awareness across all grades
- AI, robotics, and coding through the TN-SPARK programme
- STEAM approach integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics
- Equity and inclusion with special focus on Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, minorities, first-generation learners, and children with special needs
The new curriculum is expected to be rolled out from the academic year 2027-28, with the CDC tasked to study gaps between teaching objectives and outcomes, consult teachers, students, and parents, and submit its recommendations to the High-Level Expert Committee for final approval.
Significance of the Appointment
Annadurai’s appointment is widely seen as a strategic move to bring scientific rigour and global perspective to Tamil Nadu’s school education. His personal journey from a village panchayat school to leading India’s most prestigious space missions serves as a powerful narrative for students from similar backgrounds. The fact that he studied in Tamil medium government schools before rising to international prominence makes his leadership of the curriculum panel particularly symbolic.
The appointment also signals the new TVK government’s intent to place a strong emphasis on science and technology education in the state. Annadurai’s mandate includes reviewing the existing curriculum and designing a framework that helps students develop critical thinking skills and technological fluency, preparing them for careers in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, data science, and space technology.
His experience as a science communicator and his track record of engaging with young audiences through school visits and popular Tamil science writing further strengthen his ability to design a curriculum that is both rigorous and accessible. The committee’s diverse composition, spanning physicists, historians, linguists, artists, and educationists, ensures a multidisciplinary approach to curriculum design that goes beyond textbook-centric learning.
Key Takeaways
- Mylswamy Annadurai, a former ISRO scientist and Padma Shri awardee, was appointed Chairman of the Curriculum Design Committee (CDC) for School Education in Tamil Nadu on June 29, 2026.
- The 17-member committee has a three-year tenure and is tasked with redesigning the syllabus for over 1.3 crore students in the state.
- Annadurai served as Project Director of Chandrayaan-1 (India’s first lunar mission) and Programme Director of the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan), which made India the first country to succeed in a Mars mission on its first attempt.
- He joined ISRO in 1982, served for 36 years, and became Director of the U R Rao Satellite Centre from 2015 to 2018, overseeing the launch of 30 satellites.
- The CDC operates under the Tamil Nadu State Education Policy (SEP) 2025, which was launched in August 2025 and retains the state’s two-language formula.
- The new curriculum, expected from 2027-28, will focus on competency-based learning, AI and coding through the TN-SPARK programme, and 21st-century skills.
