Chandigarh February 27 (Punjab Khabarnama Bureau): The Punjab Government on Wednesday made Punjabi a mandatory main subject in all schools across the state, regardless of their educational board affiliation.
In a notification issued under the Punjab Learning of Punjabi and Other Languages Act, 2008, the Education Department said education certificates would be considered as null and void without Punjabi as a main subject.
The development follows sharp criticism over dropping of Punjabi as a regional language in the list of subjects mentioned in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) draft norms for Class X exams even as the board clarifying that the draft norms were only indicative and that no subject would be dropped.
In the notification, the department said no student would be declared pass in Class X if Punjabi was not a main subject.
State Education Minister Harjot Bains said schools were earlier fined for not teaching the Punjabi subject. Now, it was mandatory for all schools to have Punjabi as a main subject, he added.
The minister said the government imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on a private school in Mohali for failing to comply with the 2008 Act, which mandates the teaching of Punjabi as a compulsory subject. Two Jalandhar-based schools were also penalised for violating the law. Bains said Punjab would bring its own education policy and soon, a committee of experts would be constituted for the purpose.
Earlier, the CBSE move to drop the Punjabi subject in the draft norms elicited strong reaction from the ruling and opposition parties.
Bains asserted that Punjabi was spoken and read in various states, extending its significance beyond the Punjab border. “Punjabi is not just a language, it is a symbol of our rich cultural heritage, spoken and cherished by millions across the country,” he said, adding that he would write a letter to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to fix the responsibility of officials who had committed this “grave injustice” to the state.
SAD leader Sukhbir Singh Badal said, “Punjabi is our mother tongue. It is spoken and read in various states and many countries. The attack on our mother tongue will not be tolerated. The Akali Dal will strongly oppose the CBSE move. We demand its immediate restoration and urge all Punjabis to join hands in this fight.”
Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan said, “It shows their anti-Punjab mentality. This is a conspiracy against Punjab.”
Democratic Teachers’ Front president Vikram Dev Singh termed it as a move to keep students away from Punjabi language. He demanded that students should be given more than one holiday before the regional language exams.
Summary: The state government has made Punjabi a mandatory subject in both private and government schools, emphasizing the importance of the language in education.