Jaishankar, Sitharaman assure no language will be imposed
New Delhi: Following outrage in Tamil Nadu over a draft education policy favouring teaching Hindi in non-Hindi-speaking states, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Sunday said state governments will be consulted before a final decision is taken on the issue.
Jaishankar's response came after a Twitter user posted a query to him on the issue.
மத்திய அரசு மக்களின் கருத்துகளை கேட்டறிந்த பிறகே கல்வி குழுவின் வரைவை முன் எடுத்து செல்லும். அரசு அனைத்து இந்திய மொழிகளையும் வளர்க்கவும் ஊக்குவிக்கவும் எல்லா முயற்சியையும் எடுக்கும். எந்த மொழியையும் யார் மீதும் திணிக்கும் எண்ணம் மத்திய அரசுக்கு இல்லை./1
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) June 2, 2019
"The National Education Policy as submitted to the Minister HRD is only a draft report. Feedback shall be obtained from the general public. State Governments will be consulted. Only after this, the draft report will be finalised. GoI respects all languages. No language will be imposed," Jaishankar tweeted.
Following the footsteps of his predecessor Sushma Swaraj, Jaishankar on Sunday responded on Twitter to various queries and calls for assistance by several Indians abroad.
The draft national education policy recommends a range of reform measures and favoured teaching of Hindi in non-Hindi speaking states.
The recommendations relating to teaching of Hindi drew sharp reactions from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and actor Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam.
Former HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, who is now minister for information and broadcasting in the second Modi government, Saturday said a committee had prepared a draft report on the education policy and that no decision has been taken on implementing it.
This was followed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's tweet which, too, had an assuring tone. It said that the draft report of the Education Committee would be implemented only after public hearings. She also said that the Union government would support the development of Tamil.
மக்கள் கருத்துக்களை கேட்டறிந்த பின்பே கல்வி குழுவின் வரைவு அறிக்கை அமல்படுத்தப்படும். பிரதமர் அனைத்து இந்திய மொழிகளையும் வளர்க்க விரும்பியே "ஒரே பாரதம் உன்னத பாரதம்" "#EkBharatSreshthaBharat முயற்சியை துவக்கினார். தொன்மையான தமிழை போற்றி வளர்பதற்கு மத்ய அரசு முன்னின்று ஆதரிக்கும்.
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) June 2, 2019
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu appealed people not to draw hasty conclusions about the Draft New Education Policy. He urged them to first study, analyse and debate about it.
He pointed out that the core issues of education were very important and deserved attention of all stakeholders.
He encouraged the reduction of weight of school bags, promotion of sports, inculcation of morals, scientific and rationale temperament to be a part of students' curriculum.