Policy that excluded Mahl, Arabic from Lakshadweep schools deferred by Kerala High Court
In an interim order, a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court deferred the implementation of a policy under which Mahl and Arabic were excluded as optional languages at schools in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep.
The Bench of Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Basant Balaji acted upon a public interest litigation moved by Ajas Akber, the president of the Lakshadweep unit of the National Students Union of India. He had sought orders to the islands' administration to desist from terminating or removing Arabic and Mahl as optional languages under the three-language formula.
The court said the order on the language was issued without conducting any study, and so its implementation is deferred. 'The position which has existed so far (in respect of CBSE and non-CBSE schools) in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep shall continue,' the court said.
The new language policy was set to be implemented at schools on the islands from July 1.
The petitioner had argued that the decision was taken by the director of education without consultation with stakeholders and without conducting any study on its implications on the education system in Lakshadweep. The education system in Lakshadweep for the past 70 years had the option of Arabic or Mahl as a third language. With regard to Minicoy Island, the Mahl language holds a distinct cultural identity.
The court said it is open to the Union Territory conducting a study of the local conditions in the context of the prevailing education policies and to engage with all the stakeholders through a meaningful process of consultation.
The Lakshadweep administration told the court that no study had been carried out before issuing the controversial order. The administration made reference to the National Education Policy 2020 issued by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, the National Curriculum Framework for the Foundational Stage 2022, and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023.
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