Chennai: Former Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK president M. Karunanidhi on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court's order refusing to stay the Madras High Court order on implementing a uniform system of school education for classes 1 to 10 from the current academic year.

The uniform system of school education was introduced in the state by Karunanidhi during his tenure that ended in May.

Speaking to reporters here, Karunanidhi said that he was happy at the Supreme Court's refusal to stay the high court's order on an appeal filed by the state government.

He also welcomed the apex court's order to the state government to distribute the text books under the new syllabus to the school students by Aug 2.

The high Court on July 18 ordered the implementation of the uniform system of school education from the current academic year.

The high court struck down the amendments made by the J. Jayalalithaa government to defer implementation of the Tamil Nadu Uniform System of School Education Act that ushered in a uniform school syllabus for students of matriculation, Anglo-Indian and state board students.

The state government's appeal against the order was disposed by the apex court on Thursday. IANS