NEW DELHI: Days after the CBSE sparked an outrage by choosing not to conduct the Central Teachers’ Eligibility Test (CTET) in 17 regional languages, Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday directed the board to reverse its decision. The exam will now be conducted in 20 languages, including Tamil.
“The CBSE had decided to hold the exam in only three languages (Hindi, English and Sanskrit) as there was a direction from the court that the test must be carried out quickly. However, I asked it to go ahead with all languages in which the exam was taken last year,” Javadekar said.
Besides English, Hindi, and Sanskrit, the test may be taken in Tamil, Assamese, Bangla, Garo, Gujarati, Kanada, Khasi, Malyalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Mizo, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Telugu, Tibetan and Urdu.
The CBSE’s decision had led to angry reactions. “Students are forced to study Hindi and Sanskrit instead of their mother tongue... This is another of BJPs efforts to make a Hindi-Hindu Hindustan,” said DMK leader Kanimozhi.