Chennai, Sep 21: Reacting to the Tamil Nadu government's stance against the three-language policy as mandated under the National Education Policy (NEP, 2020), Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday said the Centre was not imposing any language on anybody.
Pradhan addressed concerns over the application of the three-language policy.
He termed those who claim that Centre imposes the three language policy on states as "politically motivated".
"We are not imposing any language on anybody. For Class 1 and 2, there will be two language formula. One will be mother tongue. Here, it will be Tamil language. Government of India's condition is that you have to teach in Tamil in primary school. You can teach another language that is your choice," he said.
"I have already clarified this in Parliament. In Tamil Nadu schools, many languages are being taught -- Tamil, English, Telugu, Urdu, Malayalam, Kannada. When so many languages are being taught apart from Tamil and English, what is the problem with a third language? This is a political decision of Tamil Nadu," Pradhan said.
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 proposes a three‑language formula for school education. Under this, students are expected to learn three languages in specified grades. The policy aims to promote multilingualism, preserving regional languages, and enhancing students’ ability to communicate across different linguistic zones in India.
