Germany confident India will find "practical solution" to language issue

NEW DELHI: Germany today voiced confidence that the Modi government will find a "practical solution" to the issue of dropping German language as an alternative to Sanskrit in central schools.

"I can only tell you that I am and continue to be very confident that India will find a practical solution on this issue," German ambassador Michael Steiner told PTI.

Government's move to drop German as an alternative to Sanskrit as a third language in Kendriya Vidyalayas prompted German chancellor Angela Merkel to raise the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G 20 Summit in Australia last month. Modi assured Merkel of looking at it within the confines of the Indian system.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court also asked the Human Resource Development Ministry to consider continuing German for the present academic session.

Centre had stuck to its decision on replacing German as the third language with Sanskrit in Kendriya Vidyalayas but conceded that no exam would be conducted for the subject in the current session.

The HRD ministry decided to bring in Sanskrit in place of German as third language. Over 70,000 students across 500 Kendriya Vidyalayas from classes VI to VIII were asked to switch from German to Sanskrit.

The 2011 memorandum of understanding that made German a third language was signed between the Kendriya Vidyalayas and Goethe Institute-Max Mueller Bhawan.

Sanskrit teachers had moved the Delhi high court alleging that the central schools had introduced German as a third language in place of Sanskrit against the education policy.