Tamil Learning Act

·         On February 18, 2008 Supreme Court rejected petitions challenging a legislation passed by the Tamil Nadu government making Tamil a compulsory subject from Standards I to X in all schools in the State from academic year 2006-2007.

·         Leave petitions was filed by the Kanyakumari District Malayala Samajam and the Yogakshema Sabha, Kanyakumari, against a Madras High Court judgment upholding the constitutional validity of the law.

·         Justice Pasayat cited an earlier apex court judgment, which had said that resistance to learn local language would not be in the interest of the country’s unity. Learning the local language would be in the interest of the child.

·         The petitioners challenged Tamil Nadu Tamil Learning Act 2006 gazetted on June 12, 2006. While making compulsory Tamil as the first language and English, the second language, it made study of any other language by students who had neither Tamil nor English as their mother tongue optional.

·         Under the law, Tamil was made compulsory for students of Standard I from academic year 2006-07.

·         They must learn Tamil as compulsory language in the subsequent years and continue to do so till Standard X.

·         Counsels contended that the law curtailed the unfettered rights of minority institutions to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice guaranteed under Articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution.

·         They argued that introduction of a foreign language to children of tender age was not desirable and cited the examples of Maharashtra and Karnataka, where learning of Marathi and Kannada had been made compulsory from fifth standard onwards.