No suggestion to make Hindi mandatory till Class 8, says Education Minister Prakash Javadekar

The draft prepared by the nine-member K Kasturirangan committee on the New Education Policy (NEP) include adhering to the three-language formula with Hindi mandatory till class 8 across the country, a uniform syllabus nationwide for Science and Math and promoting education based on skill. At present, Hindi is not mandatory in several states such as Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, West Bengal and Assam.

According to a report in Indian Express, the NEP aims to implement an ‘Indian-centric’ and ‘scientific’ scheme of learning in schools. The reports further state that the NEP has also advocated for developing a syllabus for up to Class 5 in local languages such as Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Maithili, etc in areas where they are being spoken.

However, Javadekar later took to Twitter to clarify that no language will be imposed. He wrote, ''The Committee on New Education Policy in its draft report has not recommended making any language compulsory. This clarification is necessitated in the wake of mischievous and misleading report in a section of the media. @narendramodi @PMOIndia.’’

The Committee on New Education Policy in its draft report has not recommended making any language compulsory. This clarification is necessitated in the wake of mischievous and misleading report in a section of the media.@narendramodi @PMOIndia

— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) January 10, 2019