Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Jun 2: Chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on Sunday June 2 expressed his reservations about the draft National Education Policy that recommends making teaching of Hindi compulsory up to class 8.
Taking to Twitter, Kumaraswamy said that it was not right to impose any language on others for any reason in the name of three-language policy.
He also said that the state government would seek more information on the proposed policy and convey its stand on the matter to the central government.
Dividing states into Hindi speaking and non-Hindi speaking, the Kasturirangan Committee recommends teaching of Hindi in non-Hindi speaking states in addition to the regional language and English.
In the case of Hindi speaking states, the Committee suggests teaching of Hindi, English and one of the modern Indian languages from other parts of India.
However, it has not specified what the modern Indian language would be. Tamil has been accorded a classical language status by the Central government.
The draft policy has met wide opposition especially in the southern states and also in West Bengal, where politicians, academicians and experts alike have slammed the centre for attempting to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states.
The Centre on Saturday clarified that the three-language system was just a recommendation and not a policy.
Information and broadcasting (I&B) minister Prakash Javadekar also told the media: "The committee on new education policy has submitted its report. The government has not taken any decision on it."
Javadekar, who was HRD minister in the previous NDA government, said all Indian languages will be promoted.
With IANS inputs