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Two language formula in Tamilnadu
February 27 , 2025
14 hrs 0 min
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- The Union Government has withheld ₹2,152 crores of funds due to Tamil Nadu under the Samagra Shiksha scheme for refusing to join the Prime Minister Schools for Rising India (PMSHRI) initiative.
- But the PM SHRI scheme is accompanying mandate to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
- One of the State’s core objections to the NEP is its insistence on adopting a three-language formula in schools.
- The NEP 2020 has retained the three-language formula, a very concept first introduced in the NEP of 1968.
- The 1968 NEP has advocated for Hindi to be a compulsory language across the nation.
- Hindi-speaking States were required to teach Hindi, English, and a modern Indian language — preferably a south Indian language — while the non-Hindi speaking States were expected to teach the local regional language, Hindi, and English.
- In contrast, the NEP 2020 offers greater flexibility, technically not imposing any specific language on any State.
- In 1937, when the C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) government in Madras proposed making Hindi a compulsory subject in secondary schools, the Justice Party had fiercely opposed it.
- In 1965, as the deadline for adopting Hindi as the sole official language across India approached, the State witnessed violent protests.
- The agitation had resurfaced when the Parliament adopted the Official Languages (Amendment) Act, 1967, and the Official Language Resolution, 1968, which had mandated the teaching of Hindi as part of the three-language formula.
- In January 26,1968, the Madras Assembly, led by the C.N. Annadurai-led first government, adopted a resolution calling for the scrapping of the three-language formula and the elimination of Hindi from the curriculum in T.N. schools.
- Since then, the State has steadfastly followed its two-language policy teaching Tamil and English.
- In 2019, backlash led the Kasturirangan Committee to remove the mandatory Hindi learning clause from the draft NEP.
- In 2019, the Union Budget allocated ₹50 crore to support the appointment of Hindi teachers in non-Hindi speaking States.
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