Row over Sanskrit: Supreme Court notice to HRD Ministry

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to the Ministry of Human Resource Development on a petition by some parents challenging the sudden decision by the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan to switch to Sanskrit from German. The ministry decided on October 27 to discontinue German as a third-language option to Sanskrit in the Kendriya Vidyalaya schools.

The parents said in the petition that switching the languages towards the end of the academic year would adversely affect 500 Kendriya Vidyalaya schools and 70,000 students. A bench comprising Justices Anil R Dave and Kurian Joseph sought an explanation from the ministry on the issue and listed the case for further hearing next Friday.

The parents said such a decision taken mid-session would amount to throwing the overall academic preparation of the students into disarray.

The decision failed to take note that the academic session had commenced as far as back as April 2014 and would culminate in an annual examination scheduled for March 2015. Given the vacation schedule in December, there are effectively only two months remaining in the academic session of 2014 -15, they said.

Two months is by no stretch of the imagination enough to unlearn German, which the students have studied since 2011, and replace it with Sanskrit or any other language. The parents urged SC to strike down the arbitrary decision, taken without consulting parents and students, and restore German as a subject for the rest of the current academic year.