Chennai: The spat between Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin over the Centre withholding Samagra Shiksha funds has now escalated into a widespread protest against the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
While the Tamil Nadu government led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has been refusing to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Centre for the PM Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI) scheme over the alleged imposition of Hindi by bringing in the three-language formula envisaged under the NEP, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government has withheld funds of over Rs 2,000 crore to Tamil Nadu under the Samagra Shiksha scheme.
The war of words over the NEP began after Pradhan said Tamil Nadu was not above the Constitution, on the sidelines of Kashi Tamil Sangamam event in Varanasi last week.
“Unless Tamil Nadu aligns with the NEP, funds under Samagra Shiksha will not be released. This is a Constitutional framework and no state can be an exception to it,” he said, adding that the NEP was rooted in the Constitution.
“We are not here to compromise on a policy that ensures educational equality. Tamil Nadu must adopt the three-language formula like others,” he told reporters in Varanasi.
Following this, Stalin said the Centre cannot “blackmail” the state into accepting central schemes like PM-SHRI and the three-language formula by holding back Samagra Shiksha funds.
Pradhan’s remarks triggered widespread criticism as they were seen in opposition to the Tamil Nadu government’s decades-long two-language policy of Tamil and English, established by former CM and DMK founder C.N. Annadurai.
Barring the BJP, all political parties including the opposition AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) in the state are against the proposed three-language policy, viewing it as a tactic to impose Hindi in the southern state.
ThePrint explains what the row is all about.
Why is Tamil Nadu against NEP?
The Tamil Nadu government’s opposition to the NEP is because of its concerns over the imposition of Hindi in the state through the three-language formula, state autonomy, social justice and alleged imposition of a uniform educational framework that is in contrast with the state’s social-cultural and educational priorities.
Ever since the NEP was introduced in 2020, the state has resisted it as a threat to its autonomy and identity. However, opposition to the NEP intensified after the DMK came to power in 2021 and declared that it would formulate its own state education policy, rejecting the NEP.
The Tamil Nadu government and political parties in the state strongly endorse the two-language policy established by Annadurai.
Tamil Nadu Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi told ThePrint that the state was committed to preserving its linguistic heritage through the two-language policy. “We embrace Tamil as a pillar of our identity while ensuring future generations are equipped with English proficiency,” he asserted. “We reject the National Education Policy, the PM-SHRI scheme and Hindi imposition.”
Is three-language policy the only concern?
According to educationists in the state, the three-language policy is one of the aspects of NEP being opposed by the state. Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary of the State Platform for Common School System, said that the NEP does not treat all Indian languages equally.
“It gives importance to Sanskrit and projects it as a language that has contributed to the cultural development of the country. This discussion on culture and language is not necessary in an education policy. If it is really related to education, then the glory and importance of all languages should have been discussed equally,” he told ThePrint.
Babu also alleged that vocational education under NEP would lead to hereditary jobs based on caste.
“The NEP does not provide equal access to education for people from all walks of life. A state that has been voicing equal rights cannot accept the NEP. Encouraging vocational education would lead to encouraging ‘casteist jobs’, which Tamil Nadu has been against for several decades now,” he said.
How has Centre’s withholding of funds affected Tamil Nadu?
According to Anbil Mahesh, the school education department is under severe financial burden as it spends over Rs 920 crore annually on teachers’ salaries and Rs 400 crore on the Right to Education (RTE) scheme.
“Despite the financial burden, we continue to provide salaries for teachers under the Samagra Shiksha scheme,” he told reporters last week.
Sources in the school education department told ThePrint that several private schools are yet to receive funds under the RTE scheme.
The state education minister also called the statements of the Union education minister “blackmail”.
“The future of 40 lakh students depends on this, but suddenly they are asking us to sign up for the PM-SHRI scheme when we are yet to receive the Samagra Shiksha funds. This is a kind of blackmail because if we accept PM-SHRI, it means accepting the NEP and the three-language policy,” said Anbil Mahesh.
What is the Opposition saying?
Edappadi K. Palaniswami, leader of AIADMK, which was in alliance with the BJP until September 2023, has appealed to the central government to release funds for the Tamil Nadu education department and not play politics over the education of children in the state.
“The Union government should withdraw its stand on the language policy as the state has been following the two-language policy for decades. Without looking at who is in power in the state and without fighting with the state government over the difference in ideologies, the Union government should release the funds immediately,” Palaniswami told reporters Monday.
What is Tamil Nadu BJP’s stand?
The Tamil Nadu unit of BJP has spoken in favour of the NEP and the three-language formula.
The state unit president K. Annamalai has alleged that DMK leaders are against the three-language policy because they do not want children from marginalised backgrounds studying in government schools to learn a third language.
“It is wrongly being presumed and propagated as imposition of Hindi. Nowhere in the NEP is Hindi being imposed. Apart from one’s native language and English, there is a provision to learn any language as a third language, which could even be a foreign language,” he said at a press conference on 19 February.
He also alleged that political leaders supporting the two-language formula are teaching Hindi in private schools run by them.
What happened to state education policy?
Soon after coming to power in Tamil Nadu, the DMK had formed a panel comprising 13 members to formulate the state’s own education policy. The policy was aimed at preserving the two-language idea, social justice and adapting to emerging needs.
The committee submitted a 550-page report in English, along with a Tamil version, to the chief minister on 1 July, 2024. However, the policy is yet to be finalised and released.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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