Monday’s Supreme Court order staying the directive issued by Madras High Court to the Tamil Nadu Government to set up Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas has shocked the entire population of the State barring the Dravidian political parties.
The Madras High Court had ordered that the decision of the Tamil Nadu Government not to allow the opening of JNVs in the State was a violation of the fundamental right of the people. The AIADMK Government led by Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy decided to move the Supreme Court against the Madras High Court directive because it wanted to neutralise the political advantage which would have gone to the DMK and other Tamil chauvinist parties if the Government left the directive without challenging it, according to a political commentator, who himself was surprised over the move.
On September 11, the Madras High Court had asked the Tamil Nadu Government to immediately take steps to set up JNVs in all districts and provide temporary sites and buildings to accommodate 240 children in each district. Tamil Nadu is the only State in the country which has not allowed the setting up of the centrally funded and sponsored JNV, an education system which offers public school ambience to the rural poor in the country.
The argument by the Tamil Nadu Government was that the education policy of the State envisages a two-language formula while the JNV follows the three language pattern, viz, English, Hindi and the regional language. The contention of the Tamil Nadu Government was that the Madras High Court order was an encroachment into the State policy.
“The stance of the Tamil Nadu Government is ridiculous. The Dravidian Governments are denying the fundamental rights of the children to get quality education at no cost. What is wrong in me getting a chance to study Hindi as an additional languageIJ” said M Ravinson, a lawyer and president of Kumari Maha Sabha, the organisation which approached the Madras High Court with a plea to direct the Tamil Nadu Government to set up Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas in the State. “The State Government has failed miserably in making quality education available to the underprivileged sections. The JNVs offer free public school education to the rural population and it should be launched in the State at the earliest. The standard of education offered by the Government schools in Tamil Nadu is poor,” said B N Alexander, an office bearer of KMS.
Dr S Kalyanaraman, director, Saraswathi Research Centre, Chennai, said the Dravidian parties have an ulterior motive in keeping JNV off the State. “Their children and grand children are all studying Hindi and Sanskrit while the same privilege is denied to the poor children. The Government also argued in the court that Hindi and Sanskrit were not welcome in Tamil Nadu,” said Dr Kalyanaraman.
Ravinson pointed out that the Tamil Andu Government’s argument that there was no three-language formula in school education in Tamil Nadu was wrong. “The State has many Kendriya Vidyalayas whioch follow three-language formula. The stay by the apex court is a set back for us but we will continue our fight for JNVs in the State,” said Ravinson.