The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned the Tamil Nadu government’s continued opposition to the establishment of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) in the state, observing that students in Tamil Nadu should not be deprived of the benefits available to students in other states, as reported in Dinamani.
The observations came during the hearing of a petition challenging the Tamil Nadu government’s refusal to permit the establishment of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas in the state.
Appearing for the Tamil Nadu government, counsel submitted that discussions on the issue were underway at the highest level and sought 12 weeks’ time to place the state’s decision before the court.
The Bench, however, declined the request, stating that it could not grant such a lengthy extension. Instead, the court granted the state three weeks’ time to inform it about identifying suitable land for establishing Navodaya schools in Tamil Nadu.
During the hearing, the petitioner argued that the Tamil Nadu government was refusing to establish Navodaya schools by citing opposition to Hindi. The petitioner contended that while CBSE schools already function across Tamil Nadu, the state was selectively opposing only Navodaya schools.
At this point, Justice R. Mahadevan clarified that Tamil Nadu does not oppose Hindi as a language but opposes the imposition of Hindi.
The Tamil Nadu government reiterated that it was still consulting on the issue of establishing Navodaya schools in the state.
The Bench, however, questioned the state’s position, observing that Navodaya schools function in every other state and asking why Tamil Nadu students alone should be deprived of the opportunity.
The judges further observed that while Tamil Nadu may have its own education policy, the immediate requirement before the state was only to identify and provide land for the schools.
The court also remarked that the three-language policy is not confined to Hindi alone, noting that students could learn other Indian languages as the third language.
The Bench further observed that if the three-language policy is implemented, it should begin from Class VI and conclude by Class IX. The judges remarked that introducing the three-language policy at the Class IX level should be avoided, as doing so could place unnecessary academic stress on students.
Recording these observations, the Supreme Court granted the Tamil Nadu government three weeks to inform the court about identifying locations for the proposed Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas in the state.
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