Creating Anti-Delhi Narrative”: Education Minister Hits Back At MK Stalin

New Delhi:

Hitting back at MK Stalin amid the row over the three-language formula in the National Education Policy, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said that the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister is creating a “false narrative” of Hindi imposition, which is politically motivated. The minister insisted that Tamil Nadu had agreed to the implementation of the National Education Policy earlier, but made a U-turn on the issue for political reasons. 

Speaking exclusively to NDTV on Friday, Mr Pradhan said Mr Stalin and the DMK are depriving students of academic progress for their own political ends. 

Under the three-language formula which is part of the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, every school student has to study at least three languages. The Centre has said this clause is necessary as previous education policies neglected the systematic teaching of Indian languages leading to an “over-reliance” on foreign languages and it aims to restore languages like Tamil to their “rightful place in education”.

Mr Stalin had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, complaining that Mr Pradhan had threatened to withhold funds for a centrally sponsored initiative, the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, unless Tamil Nadu implemented the NEP.