The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Rajasthan government to formulate a comprehensive policy for recognising and promoting Rajasthani as a medium of instruction in schools across the State.
The Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta directed the State to take concrete steps towards recognising Rajasthani as a local or regional language for educational purposes and to progressively introduce it as a medium of instruction in schools. The State was further ordered to frame a detailed policy for implementing mother-tongue-based education in line with the constitutional mandate and the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Describing the absence of formal recognition and structured introduction of Rajasthani in school education as a vacuum in an area of constitutional significance, the Court emphasised that children should have access to education in their mother tongue, particularly during their formative years. It noted that Rajasthani already enjoyed academic recognition and was being taught in several universities across the State, including Jai Narain Vyas University, Maharaja Ganga Singh University and University of Rajasthan.
The Bench criticised the State’s stand that only languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution could be incorporated into school education, observing that such an unduly rigid and pedantic approach ignored the language’s established academic acceptance.
While hearing a plea challenging the exclusion of Rajasthani from the syllabus of the Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET), the Apex Court directed the state government to introduce Rajasthani as a subject in both government and private schools in a phased manner, beginning from foundational classes and gradually extending to higher levels of education.
The Court criticised the State’s procrastinating approach as a barrier to formal academic recognition, noting that Rajasthani was already part of university curricula. The language’s inclusion in higher education undermined the State’s contention that it lacked pedagogical viability, it observed.
The petition sought formal recognition of Rajasthani in school education. According to the plea, the omission disadvantaged candidates proficient in Rajasthani and undermined the cultural heritage of the State despite the language being spoken by more than 4.62 crore people in Rajasthan.
It further pointed out that while languages such as Gujarati, Punjabi, Sindhi and Urdu were included in the REET syllabus, Rajasthani had been excluded. Reliance was also placed on Article 350A of the Constitution, the Right to Education Act and the National Education Policy 2020, all of which emphasise the importance of education in the mother tongue.
The petitioners additionally submitted that the Rajasthan Assembly had passed a resolution over two decades ago seeking inclusion of Rajasthani in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, though the proposal was yet to be implemented.
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