Amid a bitter battle between the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government over the three-language policy, Kerala Higher Education Minister R Bindu on Wednesday said the state government had always encouraged the policy, but it was against the imposition of Hindi.
Bindu, who belongs to the ruling CPI (M), said while Malayalam would continue to be given prominence, the state government had been encouraging foreign languages as well.
“Kerala has always encouraged a three-language policy. But we are against the imposition of Hindi. At the same time, we are accepting tolerance with all languages. We are now also encouraging foreign languages,” she told reporters.
The minister said the state government had established a centre of excellence for networking of languages.
“Imbibing different languages was the culture of Kerala from the very beginning. We have a very extended coastal area and many people from foreign countries came to Kerala and we accepted many foreign languages,” Bindu said.
“Our policy is to encourage students to learn different languages. Of course, Malayalam will be given prominence. There is no doubt about it,” she said.
The Tamil Nadu government and the Centre have been at loggerheads over the implementation of the new National Education Policy (NEP) and the three-language formula proposed in the policy.
Tamil Nadu’s refusal to implement key aspects of NEP 2020, particularly the three-language formula, has resulted in the Centre withholding Rs 573 crore in central education assistance under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).
Earlier today, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin alleged that the NEP was aimed at Hindi imposition in the state and said it was a “saffron policy” aimed at developing Hindi and not the nation.
Stalin’s “saffron policy” jibe came a day after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan accused the DMK-led state government of trying to score political brownies to “revive” the ruling party’s fortunes.
Pradhan asserted that the DMK’s “latest cacophony” on language imposition and its stance on NEP’s three-language formula exposed its “hypocrisy”.
(with inputs from PTI)
