Update: HRD Minister Javadekar says CTET will be held in 20 languages

Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar has said that the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) 2018 exam will be held in 20 languages, after reports said CBSE will conduct CTET only in English, Hindi and Sanskrit.

Javadekar listed English, Hindi, Assamese, Bangla, Garo, Gujarati, Kanada, Khasi, Malyalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Mizo, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Tibetan and Urdu as the languages in which CTET 2018 will be conducted.

Earlier, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Kanimozhi had slammed CBSE’s decision to drop 17 languages, including Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Gujarati and Bengali from the list of options for Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) 2018, as reported by the Times of India on June 18. The ToI had also reported that while until last year, 20 language options were available for candidates, now the “CBSE, which conducts the test mandatory for teacher appointments in central government schools like Kendriya Vidyalayas as well as private institutions affiliated to CBSE, has limited the options to Hindi, Sanskrit and English, with candidates having to should choose two from these”.

The DMK leader took to Twitter to express her anger at the decision. “The decision to drop Tamil and 16 other regional languages from Central Teacher Eligibility Test is highly condemnable and strikes at the root of federalism. Students of CBSE whose mother tongue is Tamil will be put to a great disadvantage without teachers. Students are forced to study Hindi and Sanskrit instead of their mother tongue. This will lead to another language struggle through out the country. This is another of BJPs efforts to make a Hindi-Hindu Hindustan,” said Kanimozhi.

*This article was updated at 4.05 pm on June 18, 2018 to add the response of the Union HRD Minister