School Education Minister Rajmohan. | Photo credit: S. SIVA SARAVANAN.
The School Education Department has suspended the principal of Panchayat Union High School (Girls) at Krishnarayapuram in Karur for violating the department circular issued on July 9 and for dereliction of duty.
The action came hours after a video surfaced on social media showing a live telecast of Chief Minister K Joseph Vijay’s visit to Karur on the school premises in the presence of students.
The order stated that S. Malliga has been suspended under sub-rule (e) of Rule 17 of the Tamil Nadu Civil Service (D&A) Rules. Sharing the suspension order on his X handle, School Education Minister Rajmohan said that “it was wrong to show the live telecast of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) event to the students of the school.”
“There is no place for politics in educational institutions,” Mr. Rajmohan wrote, adding that he has issued instructions to all educational institute heads and school principals to ensure that such incidents do not happen again in any school in the state.
The minister said he had ordered an immediate and detailed investigation into the matter, which confirmed that the school principal had acted unilaterally and in contravention of departmental orders.
An order to this effect was issued by the department on July 9, signed by the minister, and it stated that “except for official events organized by the government, no birthday parties or non-government events should be held. No political parties or private organizations are allowed to meet directly with students.”
The order came in response to strong backlash after a video of an inspection conducted by Industry Minister S Keerthana at a school in Sivakasi on July 2 surfaced on social media, where the minister reprimanded a student for not answering her questions in English. Mr. Rajmohan also said another video that surfaced on social media was being investigated, but did not provide details of the incident.
Published – Jul 10, 2026 11:31 PM EST.