Stalin thanks EPS, urges CM to oppose new policy depriving rights of students

Stalin, who along with other leaders of Secular Progressive Alliance, wrote to CM Palaniswami in this regard earlier in the day, tweeted, “Thanks to Chief Minister Palaniswami for opposing the imposition of tri-lingual policy in the pretext of New Education Policy.” “Not only the linguistic policy, the Centre’s education policy is also fraught with mistakes and infringes the rights of students. Leaders of DMK alliances have written to the CM pointing this out. CM should register his opposition also on that basis,” Stalin added

The mindset of the BJP-led Centre could be understood from the Union Cabinet approving the NEP during the distressing period when coronavirus was troubling the people in whole of the country, said the Opposition leaders in their letter to the CM.

The NEP designed after constituting TSR Subramaniam and Kasturirangan committees since 2016 was aimed at saffronising and commercialising education and giving priority to Sanskrit and Hindi. The policy is against federalism, social justice, women rights, equality, equal opportunity and pluralism, the letter read. Quoting page V of the 66-page NEP 2020, which emphasizes on “Promoting multilingualism and the power of language in teaching and learning,” the Secular Progressive Alliance leaders said the remaining pages were contrary to the preface and reflect an anti-Tamil mindset.

Alleging that NEP aims at undermining classical Tamil and imposing Sanskrit, the leaders quoted extensively from the NEP and said that it was worrisome that the policy does not complement the successful education system in vogue in the state and it attempts to prioritise Sanskrit, undermining Tamil. Asserting that the NEP being proposed by the Centre with the intention to destroy the plural culture and against the future generations should be categorically rejected by the ruling AIADMK.