19-05-2025
‘Eye-opener for divisive politics': Dharmendra Pradhan cites Bihar-born girl acing Tamil exam
Referring to the instance of a student of Bihar-origin who aced the Class 10 Tamil exam in the southern state this year, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that her story is an eye-opener for 'those who are trying to create divisions on the basis of language'.
Pradhan was speaking at an event on Monday to launch a Bharatiya Bhasha Summer Camp, which is being held in government schools this summer to expose children to the learning of Indian languages. He also launched learning material such as primers and special modules in Indian languages. He dedicated the event to D Jiya Kumari, the student from Bihar who scored 93 out of 100 in the Tamil exam of the Tamil Nadu state board.
'We have seen this in the newspaper recently. She was born in Bihar, and her father moved to Chennai to earn a living 17 years ago. His three daughters have now learnt Tamil in school. Jiya Kumari scored 93 out of 100 in Tamil and 467 out of 500 overall,' Pradhan said.
Pradhan's statement comes in the wake of a clash between the Centre and Tamil Nadu over the State's refusal to implement aspects of the National Education Policy 2020, including the three-language policy. The State, which follows a two-language policy and teaches English and Tamil in schools, has considered the three-language policy to be an attempt to impose Hindi.
