Tamilnadu Rejects NEP 2020

Feb. 28, 2025, 9:51 a.m.

Tamil Nadu is raising protests against the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. This is mainly because of the three language policy of NEP, which clearly contradicts with the state's long standing two language policy that includes Tamil and English. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stated that Tamil Nadu would not receive any funding under the Samagra Shiksha program unless it adopts NEP 2020 and this has led to strong opposition. The minister alleged that Tamil Nadu’s resistance is just politically motivated. On the other hand, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin called this conditional funding approach fundamentally unacceptable.

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Tamil Nadu has historically opposed Hindi imposition since the 1960s and has not allowed Navodaya Vidyalayas, which implement the three-language formula. The three-language formula, introduced in 1968, requires Hindi-speaking states to teach an additional Indian language and non-Hindi-speaking states to include Hindi. The NEP 2020, India’s third national education policy, aims for full implementation by 2040 but is not mandatory since education is a concurrent subject.

Parliament passed the first education policy in 1968 based on recommendations from a 1964 commission. The Munshi-Ayyangar formula, which shaped India's official language policy, was adopted in governance intended to balance Hindi and English. But when the 15-year English usage period ended, protests erupted, particularly in Tamil Nadu, leading to the Official Languages Act, which then upheld English alongside Hindi. Tamil Nadu’s opposition to the three-language policy reflects its bigger resistance to central policies seen as infringing on state autonomy, making this issue very crucial for understanding Centre-State relations in UPSC exams.