HRD Minister Smriti Irani defends Sanskrit replacing German as 3rd language in KVs

NEW DELHI: Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani has said that the decision to drop German as a third language in Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVS) was taken to correct a violation that was inherited as legacy by her ministry from the UPA government.

According to Irani, the MoU between KVS and the Goethe-Institut of Max Mueller Bhawan, which was signed in 2011, when Kapil Sibal was the HRD minister, was against the national education policy and the National Curriculum Framework which allows only an Indian language to be taught as a third language in schools. “How could I have made a foreign language a third language in schools,” the minister told reporters at a press interaction held on Friday.

This decision will affect students who opted for German but will have to learn another Indian language afresh midway through their schooling. The move has been criticised by NDA ally PMK which urged the prime minister to roll back the decision.