Supreme Court directs Rajasthan to recognise Rajasthani languages in school education

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Rajasthan government to frame a comprehensive policy to recognise and promote Rajasthani as a medium of instruction in schools..A Bench comprising of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta directed the State to work towards giving Rajasthani proper status as a local or regional language and gradually introduce it as a medium of instruction in schools."The State shall take necessary measures to recognise and accord due status to the Rajasthani language as a local or regional language for educational purposes and to progressively facilitate its adoption as a medium of instruction, initially at the foundational and preparatory stages of schooling and progressively at higher levels in a manner consistent with the constitutional principles and the pedagogical requirements," the Court said. .Emphasising the need for a structured approach, the Court added,“The State shall frame a comprehensive policy for the effective implementation of the constitutional mandate relating to the mother-tongue-based education, particularly in the backdrop of the National Education Policy 2020.”.The Court termed the lack of recognition and structured introduction of Rajasthani in school education a “vacuum” in an area of constitutional importance. The Court added that its directions were necessary to ensure that students have access to education in their own language, especially in the early years.The Court has now directed the State to introduce Rajasthani as a subject in both government and private schools in a phased manner.It also instructed that the integration process should begin in early classes and then be expanded to higher levels over time.The Court further expressed strong disapproval over the State’s contention that only languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution (officially recognised languages) are included in school education. It pointed out that this approach ignores the existing academic presence of Rajasthani. It noted that Rajasthani is already being taught in several universities in the State, including Jai Narain Vyas University, Maharaja Ganga Singh University and the University of Rajasthan. This, the Court said, shows that the language already has academic recognition and acceptance.“We may note that Rajasthani is presently being taught as a subject in the universities across the state of Rajasthan… yet the procrastinating stand consistently taken by the state… discloses an apparent pedantic approach for the academic recognition of Rajasthani at the higher education level itself, (and) belies all the suggestions that the language lacks institutional or pedagogical acceptance,” observed the Court..The Court was dealing with a plea challenging the exclusion of Rajasthani from the syllabus of the Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET). The plea also sought recognition of the language in school education. It contended that the omission placed candidates proficient in Rajasthani at a disadvantage. It argued that excluding a language spoken by over 4.62 crore people in Rajasthan undermined the State’s cultural heritage and the right to education in the mother tongue.The plea pointed out that while Rajasthani was excluded from REET, other languages such as Gujarati, Punjabi, Sindhi and Urdu were included in the examination syllabus. It also relied on Article 350A of the Constitution, the Right to Education Act and the National Education Policy 2020, all of which stress the importance of mother-tongue education.The petitioners had also highlighted that the Rajasthan Assembly had passed a resolution more than two decades ago seeking the inclusion of Rajasthani in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, but the proposal was never implemented..[Read Live Coverage]