Kerala High Court Stays Lakshadweep's Ban On Mahal And Arabic In Schools
The Kerala High Court has stayed the Lakshadweep administration’s decision to remove Mahal and Arabic from the school curriculum in the UT. The division bench headed by Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Basant Balaji stayed the administration’s move.
The Court said, “For the implementation of the National Education Policy in a particular area, there has to be an application of mind and a study of local conditions to determine what is best for the educational interests of the community, to achieve the objectives of the Policy. The policy itself contemplates such an application of mind, noting that various factors are involved in the said decision. As contended by the learned counsel for the Petitioner, a language holds deep cultural significance and any changes could have serious ramifications.”
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The Court further said that the Court does not interfere in the matters of education policy, particularly concerning the selection of languages in the curriculum. However, this is self-restraint based on the premise that decisions about education policy are made by the experts in the field after an in-depth study and wide consultation, the court observed.
On May 14th, the Education Department of the UT issued an order to remove the two languages under the 2023 National Curriculum Framework (NCF), which is part of the 2020 National Education Policy (NEP).
As per the orders, all schools in Minicoy island were to offer Malayalam and English as the first and second languages, and Hindi would replace the local language, Mahal, and Arabic as the third language.
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A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by Ajas Akber, a social worker, and President of the Lakshadweep Unit of the National Students Union of India. The petitioner pointed out that Mahal is the exclusive language spoken by Minicoy Islanders, and it symbolises their tradition and culture.
