Smriti says Sanskrit will be optional, but KV schools have nothing else to offer

HRD minister Smriti Irani has denied all allegations that education was being saffronised after her recent decision to remove German and replace it with Sanskrit as the third language for students studying in Kendriya Vidyalayas. The minister told PTI, “Those who accuse me of being a RSS mascot or RSS representative possibly want to deflect the attention from the good work that we have done. This agenda will be flagged and I will be whipped for as long as there is a need to keep attention diverted away from the good work. I am ready for it. I have no problem.” She defended her decision to replace German with Sanskrit as the third language in the KV’s, saying that the teaching of German under an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2011 had been in violation of the Constitution. Irani said that the three-language formula ensured that students could be taught any of 23 Indian languages listed in Schedule 8 of the Constitution and said that German can be taught as a foreign language. “We are teaching French, we are teaching Mandarin, we teach German in the same way. I can’t understand why people are not understanding what I am saying,” she was quoted as saying. [caption id=“attachment_1692715” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] However an Indian Express report points out that for KV students from class VI-VIII, Sanskrit will end up being the de-facto option for the third language. The report adds that “logistical difficulties,” even earlier on had meant that Sanskrit ended up being the third option. The report points out that in “2001, KVs passed an order making Hindi, English and Sanskrit mandatory as the three languages.” The regional language option would only be effective if 15 or more students opt for the subject. It was only 2011 when the MoU with Germany was signed that German came in as the third option. The report points out, that “top government sources admitted there was little logistical preparedness for offering any regional language” to the students. It notes that “officials said the ministry and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan are ‘banking on the fact that most students who are now forced to drop German will anyway pick Sanskrit’”. As the IE report notes, where the regional languages are concerned, neither the officials at KV nor the ministry have shown any preparedness to ensure that training is given to teachers in regional languages. While Irani is right to point out that German as third language was in violation of the Indian Constitution and National Education policy, the fact that virtually nothing has been done to promote regional languages, means that at the end of the day the decision has done nothing for the latter. With Sanskrit ending up as the de-facto option, the decision effectively means that regional languages are still suffering in the education system.