Karnataka's Exam Failures Are a Warning Sign

The Tamil Nadu Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi's recent comment regarding the failure of more than 90,000 students in Karnataka on account of language imposition is not merely a political catchphrase — it is an eye-opener. With India's education sector headed for standardisation along the lines of the National Education Policy (NEP), we need to take a step back and ask ourselves: at what expense?

The minister, making a speech at a school ceremony, was right to ask for an explanation for compelling students to learn a third language, usually foreign to their setting and culture. "A third language should be a choice, not a compulsion," he averred — difficult to argue with. While one of India's biggest assets is multilingualism, it flourishes when nurtured, not mandated.

Let's be real: language imposition is not unity; it's dominance. What's going on in Karnataka is not unique. Students who are fighting with the burden of strange languages are not failing because they are not smart enough — they are failing because policy is failing them.

Poyyamozhi’s criticism of the Union government’s language policy and selective education funding is a serious allegation that deserves scrutiny. If states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala — often leading in literacy and public education models — are being financially sidelined, the question isn’t just about language. It’s about federal fairness.

Supporting him, DMK MP Kanimozhi refuted Union Home Minister Amit Shah's statement on Hindi being the "friend to all languages," by stating that Tamil is not the foe of any language either. Her exhortation to North Indians to learn one South Indian language was not divisive — it was an appeal to actual national integration through mutual respect.

India's power is in its diversity of language, not uniformity. To protect it, education policy needs to be based on inclusion, not ideology. Composing language as a barrier to education subverts all schooling should mean — empowerment, equity, access.

Because when 90,000 students fail, it's not a statistic — it's a policy failure.