Global Sikh News

Chandigarh, Punjab: The Punjab government has taken an in principle decision to make the teaching of Punjabi language compulsory in all schools of the state, irrespective of the boards they were affiliated to. Once notified, teaching Punjabi would become mandatory even in Central Schools, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and the institutes affiliated to CBSE, ICSE or any other board. Notably, these schools were exempted in an earlier notification for implementing the Punjab Learning of Punjabi and other Languages Act, 2008. now, Punjabi is proposed to be taught as a compulsory subject from Class I to Class X.

The government has based its decision on the opinion of the Advocate General Office even though the Legal Remembrance Punjab had suggested that notifying the Central Schools and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas under clause (e) of Section 2 of the legislation may not withstand judicial scrutiny. He had suggested that the Union government should be consulted before taking any such decision.

Confirming that he had opined in favour of bringing all schools, including minority institutions, under the purview of the Act, Advocate General HS Mattewal said: “Education experts are unanimous in their opinion that pupils should begin their school through the medium of their mother tongue. The introduction of foreign language tends to threaten to atrophy the development of the mother tongue. When the pupil comes of age and reaches Class V, the second language can be introduced.”

Sources in the government said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had made up his mind and asked the department concerned to issue a notification to bring all schools, aided, non-aided, government or private, under the ambit of clause (e) of Section 2 of the Act. Notably, Punjab is looking at the Karnataka example where learning and teaching of Kannad had been made mandatory for all.

Mattewal said the Supreme Court had in an earlier judgment upheld that even minority institutions could be forced by the government to teach the state’s language. He said the apex court had ruled that “a proper understanding of Marathi language is necessary for easily carrying out the day-to-day affairs of the people living in the state of Maharashtra and also for carrying out proper administration. Hence the regulation imposed by the state upon the linguistic minorities to teach its regional language is only a reasonable one”. The same rule applied to Punjab, he said.

The Punjab Learning of Punjabi and other Languages Act, 2008 holds that Punjabi shall be taught as a compulsory subject in all schools from Class I to Class X from the academic year 2009-10. And that no board or institute shall award the matriculation certificate to any student until he passed Punjabi as a subject in Class X examination.

In an earlier notification in November last, the Punjab government had not specifically bound Central Schools, Navodaya Vidyalas and other minority institutions to teach Punjabi. Now, the Education Minister had been specifically told that it was within the legal competence of the state to issue a fresh notification to mandate even the schools affiliated to CBSE, ICSE or other boards to teach Punjabi.

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