The Madras High Court directed the Tamil Nadu government to issue no objection certificate to open Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) in the state and said that the state government should not fear that through these schools Hindi language will be forced upon students of the state.
Justices K K Sasidharan and G R Swaminathan of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court order the state to issue NOC for the JNVs within eight weeks.
The Central government counsel also made it clear that in JNVs state languages are taught to the students from class 6 to 8 and further made it clear that students of the state will be free to choose the Tamil as an optional subject in class 11 and 12 and Hindi will not be forced upon the students in any way.
Earlier, this year in March, Madras High Court issued notices to the Tamil Nadu government and Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) as it was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) asking to set up JNVs in the state.
The petition was filed by Kumari Mahasabha Secretary Jayakumar Thomas.
The petition filed in the court said “JNV schools are boarding schools with classes being conducted from class 6 to 12. These schools also give priority to students from rural areas during admission. The petitioner also added that while no fee is charged to students for classes 6 to 8, the schools board charges a minimal fee of Rs. 200 to students of classes 9 to 12.”
The JVV samiti responded to the petition and said that there is no co-operation from Tamil Nadu government for setting up JNVs in the state.
Thomas asked that if KVs which conduct the classes in Hindi are allowed to run in the state then why JNVs are not permitted too.
