Coimbatore: Higher education minister K Ponmudi said Tamil Nadu will adopt good elements from the new education policy but formulate and follow its own education policy.
Sharing the stage with Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi at the 37th convocation ceremony of Bharathiar University in Coimbatore on Friday, Ponmudi said he hoped the governor would support Tamil Nadu to go ahead with the state’s education policy.
“We hope that the governor will help us adopt the new curriculum, which will not only make the students job-ready but will also be job creators,” he said. The Minister urged the Governor to ensure that Hindi is not imposed on Tamil Nadu. We are not against any language. We are only against the imposition of Hindi. Those who want to learn Hindi can do so. Hindi should be only an optional language and should not be made compulsory.
He took a dig at Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s remarks at the recent Tughlaq anniversary celebrations held in Chennai that learning Hindi would lead to more employment opportunities. Ponmudi said in an apparent reference to the people of North Indian states, “Many people say that if you learn Hindi you can get a job. But do you get it? Go and see the people who run pani puri shops in Coimbatore.” Who are they?” Roadside snack stalls.
Replying to Ponmudi, Governor RN Ravi in his address said that Hindi has not been imposed in Tamil Nadu. He said that an impression is being created by some people that the Center is imposing a language on Tamil Nadu, but it is not true. “There is no question of imposing Hindi or any other language in India. We should encourage all languages.”
Ponmudi said he is using the platform to air his views on the state’s education policy and Hindi imposition so that the governor can convey the sentiments to the Centre. “As the vice-chancellor and governor, he will understand the problems of Tamils,” he said.
In his address, Ravi said that the new education policy of the Center encourages learning and teaching in the mother tongue. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently insisted that courts should use the respective regional languages. Similarly, he created the Subramanya Bharathi Tamil chair at Banaras University.
Ravi urged the state government to promote Tamil in other states. “I would like to urge the state government to take the initiative to set up Tamil chairs in other state universities,” he said.