Thiruvananthapuram: Issuing a stern warning, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said no-objection certificates (NOCs) of schools that refuse to teach Malayalam will be canceled.
"There should be no restriction on speaking Malayalam on the campus. Nor should there be any declaration asking students to speak in other languages," the CM said during a press meet on Tuesday.
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However, rules will be relaxed for students belonging to other states and linguistic minorities, the chief minister said.
A fine of Rs 5,000 will be slapped on head of the institutions that fail to comply with the order from next academic year onwards.
Malayalam compulsory till class X
The ordinance promulgated to make Malayalam compulsory up to tenth standard in all schools came into force after being approved by governor P. Sathasivam.
The new rule will be applicable to all government, aided, unaided, self-financing educational institutions, CBSE and ICSE syllabus schools up to class X. Schools in state border areas with a sizable population of linguistic minorities are also obligated to follow the norm.
The move comes in the wake of repeated complaints that several schools in border districts refused to teach Malayalam.
The last week’s cabinet meeting had decided to make Malayalam a compulsory subject in all schools in the state up to higher secondary level. However, the special cabinet withdrew the decision and made it applicable only up to high school level in view of practical difficulties in implementation.
The cabinet also took into account the fact that Tamil was made compulsory in schools in Tamil Nadu up to 10th standard only.
Schools should not make any direct or indirect efforts to prohibit students speaking Malayalam in schools, the ordinance said. It also prohibits educational institutions from displaying boards to encourage students to speak any particular language or against speaking Malayalam.
Students who had earlier studied in foreign countries or other Indian states join schools in the state, need to study Malayalam as a subject, but they will be exempted from writing the Malayalam paper in the SSLC examination.
At present, Malayalam is taught in CBSE schools in the state up to eighth standard as per an agreement between managements and the government.
Though an ordinance was promulgated in this effect, a new Bill will be introduced at the next assembly session to replace it.
The ordinance was approved hurriedly as classes for the next academic year will soon be commenced in several schools in the state. If delayed, the new norms cannot be implemented next year.
Finance minister Thomas Isaac presented the draft ordinance before the cabinet in the absence of education minister C. Raveendranath who is abroad.