National Education Policy row: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar says no language will be “imposed”

"The National Education Policy as submitted to the Minister HRD is only a draft report. Feedback shall be obtained from 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," he tweeted.

Meanwhile, former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah also tweeted on MOnday morning on the controversy and said instead of imposing Hindi, the government should focus on recognising regional identities & give more space to the states to express & manifest their ideas through their own culture & language.

"New National Education Policy draft imposes Hindi in non Hindi states & this goes against our sentiments. If recognition of regional identity is inconsistent according to few then imposition of Hindi is nothing but a brutal assault on our States.  #StopHindiImposition," he tweeted.

"Instead of imposing Hindi, the government should focus on recognising regional identities & give more space to the states to express & manifest their ideas through their own culture & language.We are all Kannadigas in India. #StopHindiImposition," read his another tweet.

Vice President Naidu reacts:

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu has appealed to people to study, analyze and debate the Draft New Education Policy and not to come to hasty conclusions.

Observing that core issues of education were very important and deserve the attention of all stakeholders, naidu said that reducing the load of school bags, promoting sports, inculcating morals, scientific and rationale temperament, history and the contribution of the freedom fighters should become part of the curriculum.

Inaugurating a two-day conference on ‘Industry Academy Interaction for Improvement of Quality of Academics’ organized by the Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE) in Vishakhapatnam on Sunday, Naidu called for establishing a symbiotic relationship between academia and the industry to create an ecosystem for innovation to thrive and generate employment for the youth.

For this to be achieved, he wanted the industry to play a more pro-active role and establish a strong organic link with the academic institutions.

Naidu asked the industry and academia to look at long-term collaborations rather than join hands for limited purposes and one-off projects to promote the culture of research in a big way in our universities and other important academic institutions.

The Vice President suggested to the corporate entities to identify specific areas of interest and fund doctoral and post-doctoral research connected to them.

He also urged them to set up a special corpus or fund for financing research projects that will lead to innovations, benefit the society and economy of the country.

Pointing out that many students passing out of the portals of higher education institutions were lacking employable skills, Naidu said that organizations hiring the young graduates were forced to impart further on-the-job training for periods ranging from six months to one year.

Calling for a revamp of the education system so that the graduating students were fully equipped with skills to meet the needs of the industry or agriculture or have the aptitude and skills of a risk-taking entrepreneur, the Vice President said the students must not only be employable but also possess life skills, language skills, technological skills and entrepreneurial skills to enable them to be gainfully employed or self-employed.

Pointing out that the Indian universities did not figure in the top 100 ranking global universities, the Vice President urged universities and educationists to introspect and improve the standards.

Expressing his concern over instances of atrocities against women and gender discrimination, Naidu said the education system should produce socially responsible citizens and called for bringing about a change in the mindset.

"Programmes like ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padao’ and Swachh Bharat should become people’s movements," he added.

Govt's stand on Draft New Education Policy:

The Indian government on Saturday clarified that it  is committed for equal development and promotion of all Indian languages and there will be no imposition of any language in educational institutions, nor discrimination against any language.

#StopHindiImposition has erupted in micro-blogging site Twitter after The Draft National Education Policy 2019 was submitted to the Centre a day ago.

The draft education policy, which insists on continuation of "three language policy", is perceived as an effort to impose Hindi as a mandatory language till Class 8.

DMK chief MK Stalin had earlier warned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which runs the Centre, that it will suffer a huge disaster if tries to impose Hindi.

Meanwhile, the government, in its statement said, "This is a draft Policy submitted by the Committee and is placed for views of the general public. It is not the Policy announced by Government. After getting feedback from general public, and after consulting State Governments, the National Education Policy will be finalised by Government."

"Government under the leadership of Shri Narendra Modi is committed for equal development and promotion of all Indian languages. There will be no imposition of any language in educational institutions, nor discrimination against any language," it said.