New CBSE curriculum is ‘calculated attempt at linguistic imposition’, alleges MK Stalin

Apr 4, 2026 - 21:00

Join our WhatsApp Community to receive travel deals, free stays, and special offers!
- Join Now -

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday alleged that the new curriculum framework announced by the Central Board of Secondary Education is a “calculated and deeply concerning attempt at linguistic imposition”.

The curriculum, announced on Thursday, will make studying a third language compulsory in Class 6 from the 2026-’27 academic session, The Indian Express reported. At least two of the three languages will need to be Indian ones, and English will be considered a foreign language.

Stalin on Saturday contended that for students in southern states, this would effectively translate to compulsory Hindi learning.

“Yet, where is the reciprocity?” the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader asked. “Will students in Hindi-speaking states be mandated to learn Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam – or even languages like Bengali and Marathi?”

Stalin alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government, under the guise of promoting Indian languages, was “aggressively advancing a centralising agenda that privileges Hindi while systematically marginalising India’s rich and diverse linguistic heritage”.

He asserted: “The so-called three-language formula is, in reality, a covert mechanism to expand Hindi into non-Hindi speaking regions.”

Stalin contended that even as the Centre had not made Tamil a mandatory language in Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan schools and had consistently failed to appoint enough Tamil teachers, it was now seeking “to lecture states on promoting Indian...