AR Rahman welcomes new changes in the education policy

Music director A R Rahman on Monday welcomed the changes made to the draft National Education Policy saying the alteration will enable students to choose any language they want to study.

The musician took to his Twitter account to express his contentment, which roughly means, "Hindi is not compulsory in TN. The draft policy has been revised."

According to the new version of the draft policy, "Students who wish to change one or more of the three languages they are studying may do so in Grade 6 or Grade 7, so long as they are able to still demonstrate proficiency in three languages (one language at the literature level) in their modular Board Examinations sometime during secondary school."

The change in the draft came after a huge outcry in Tamil Nadu where political parties accused the Centre of trying to impose Hindi on the state.

In the original Draft National Education Policy 2019, a three-language formula recommended the inclusion of English and Hindi besides mother tongue in the non-Hindi state, while the Hindi-speaking states were to include English and Indian language from other parts of India.

The draft policy had said multilingualism is a necessity of India as of much of the developed world and must be considered a boon and an opportunity for learning and expanding one's horizons rather than a burden.

Leaders from non-Hindi states, especially Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, had opposed the draft.

In Tamil Nadu, leaders across party lines had said the state would not tolerate any imposition.

Echoing similar sentiments, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had said that the Centre cannot force any language on others. His predecessor and Congress leader Siddaramiah also said the draft was an attempt to impose Hindi on non-Hindi states and a "brutal assault" on them.

However, the Centre had maintained that the policy was just a draft subject to changes and ensured that no language will be pressed upon.

"The committee was formed for drafting New Education Policy. That committee has given its report. The report of the committee is only received by the Ministry. That's not the policy. No language will be imposed on any state," HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishak had told ANI on Saturday.