Tamil will be the medium of instruction in all government and private schools in Tamil Nadu, up to Class 5, if the Bharatiya Janata Party comes to power in the state. The party had released its 2021 Tamil Nadu election manifesto on Monday. The party also promises to create a school syllabus that is "enriched with morals based Tamil literature like Aathichoodi, Kondrai Vendhan, Naaladiyar, Vivega Sindhamani and spiritual literature like Devaram and Thiruvasagam."
While the party promises to make the Tamil Nadu Government school syllabus "enriched and upgraded on par with the CBSE syllabus focusing on skill development" and implement the new National Education Policy. The NEP has been met with a lot of criticism in Tamil Nadu in the past. Since the 1960s, the state had opposed the three-language formula mentioned in the NEP. C N Annadurai, the former Chief Minister had said, "What serves to link us with the outside world is certainly capable of rendering the same service inside India as well. To plead for two-link languages is like boring a smaller hole in a wall for the kitten while there is a bigger one for the cat. What suits the cat will suit the kitten as well."
The manifesto also says that schools will also teach the histories of the Chera, Chola and Pandiya kings. Another promise is the facilitation of separate learning sessions for students who wish to learn additional languages of their choice. The party also promises to set up a Tamil Chair in all universities across the world.
The manifesto seeks to lay out the party's plan which it will put in place if it comes to power. The saffron party's manifesto was officially unveiled by Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road, Transport and Highways in the presence of Tamil Nadu BJP State President Dr L Murugan and VK Singh, Minister for Defence among several other leaders of the party. The BJP has allied with the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and will contest in 20 Assembly constituencies. The election manifesto committee of the party included H Raja, Sasikala Pushpa, K Annamalai, VP Duraisamy, M Nachiappan and others.
