structural:expansion, information:classification
Education

Chennai is a major educational hub and home to some of the premium educational institutions in the country. The city has a 90.33% literacy rate and ranks second among the major Indian metropolitan city centres. Chennai has a mix of public and private schools with the public school system managed by the school education department of Government of Tamil Nadu. As of 2023, there are 420 public schools run by Greater Chennai Corporation. Public schools run by the Chennai Corporation are all affiliated with the Tamil Nadu State Board, while private schools may be affiliated with either of Tamil Nadu Board of Secondary Education, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (ICSE) or National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). School education starts with two years of Kindergarten from age three onwards and then follows the Indian 10+2 plan, ten years of school and two years of higher secondary education.

The University of Madras was founded in 1857 and is one of India's first modern universities. Colleges for science, arts, and commerce degrees are typically affiliated with the University of Madras, which has six campuses in the city. Indian Institute of Technology Madras is a premier institute of engineering and College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University founded in 1794 is the oldest engineering college in India.

Officers Training Academy of the Indian Army is headquartered in the city. There are eight government-run medical colleges in the city including one dental college, three for traditional medicine and four for modern medicine apart from multiple private colleges operating under the purview of Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University in Chennai. Madras Medical College was established in 1835 and is one of the oldest medical colleges in India.

Chennai has many libraries with the major ones being the Connemara Public Library (estd. 1896), one of the four National Depository Centres in India that receive a copy of all newspapers and books published in the country and the Anna Centenary Library, the largest library in Asia. Chennai has two CSIR research institutions namely Central Leather Research Institute and Structural Engineering Research Centre. Chennai book fair is an annual book fair organized by the Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI) and is typically held in December–January.