KVs to teach German as hobby class subject: HRD ministry

Allaying the concerns of thousands of students who will be forced to take up Sanskrit instead of German as the third language in Kendriya Vidyalayas across the country, the human resource development ministry said German will be taught as an 'additional subject of hobby class'.

Allaying the concerns of thousands of students who will be forced to take up Sanskrit instead of German as the third language in Kendriya Vidyalayas across the country, the human resource development ministry said German will be taught as an “additional subject of hobby class.”

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The governing board of Kendriya Vidyalaya had in its meeting on October 27 had directed that teaching of German language as an option instead of Sanskrit be discontinued.

The decision could affect about over 70,000 students from classes 6 to 8 who will be asked to switch from German to Sanskrit.

The ministry defended it decision saying it had to be taken as it violated the national education policy.

“German can be taught to such students of class VI to VIII as an additional subject of hobby class, if they so desire, but not as a third language as it violates the three language formula,” a ministry release said.

The Kendriya Vidyalaya had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) which made German a ‘third language’ as a subject in schools.

This was done without taking the HRD ministry on board so the ministry directed the KVs to not renew the MoU. “The MoU was in violation of India’s the national education policy and the national education framework and thus we did not sign the MoU again,” HRD minister Smriti Irani told the media on Friday.

The minister also said the decision would not impact students saying the ministry will provide the facility to teach foreign language in schools.