CHENNAI: The School Education Department has appointed noted ISRO scientist Dr Mayilsamy Annadurai as the new chairman of the Curriculum Design Committee.
A government order for the appointment was issued following the resignation of Sultan Ahmed Ismail (Retd), former head of the Department of Zoology at The New College and a member of the State Planning Commission, from the post.
Annadurai, who served as project director of Chandrayaan-1 and later held key leadership roles in the Chandrayaan-2 and Mangalyaan mission, studied in government schools before pursuing engineering at the Government College of Technology, Coimbatore.
Two committees were consituted in November 2025 to revamp the school curriculum and syllabus — the Curriculum Design Committee and the High-Level Expert Committee. While the High-Level Expert Committee is headed by the School Education Minister, the Curriculum Design Committee was initially chaired by Sultan Ahmed Ismail.
Officials said Ismail chose to step down following the change in government. Annadurai has now been appointed to head the committee, while the remaining members of the 16-member panel have been retained.