The citizens of Tamil Nadu and political parties, on the 2nd of June, started a protest against the Government of India’s three language plan under the draft National Education Policy (NEP) 2019.
The protest began after the Government of India (GoI) released a draft of the NEP.
According to the three language plan draft, Hindi is said to be a compulsory subject to study in Southern schools after English, whereas the third language could be the regional language.
To study Hindi is a major issue in the South Indian states, which are non Hindi speaking and are supported by the political parties of Tamil Nadu. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Kamal Haasan led Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) also criticised the new policy by the Education Department of India.
After the hue and cry in Tamil Nadu, on the 2nd of June, S. Jaishankar, the External Affairs Minister of India, said, the GoI will consult the State Government before finalising any policy.
On the 3rd of June, the External Affairs Ministry drafted a new plan under the National Education Policy 2019. According to the new draft, the students can choose a language of their choice and it’s not compulsory to choose Hindi, as was the case before.
The revised draft by the GoI stated, “In keeping with the principle of flexibility, students who wish to change one or more of the three languages they are studying may do so in Grade 6 or Grade 7, so long as they are able to still demonstrate proficiency in three languages.”
However, an official announcement about National Education Policy 2019 is yet to be made.
Stay tuned for further updates.
