CHANDIGARH: A controversy erupted in Punjab after the AAP-led Punjab Government and the Shiromani Akali Dal alleged that the Central Board of Secondary Education has dropped Punjabi from the list of subjects for the Class 10 Board exams in the new draft norms.
The board officials clarified that the list was only indicative and no subjects would be dropped.
Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains strongly criticized the Central Board of Secondary Education(CBSE) for dropping the 'Punjabi' language from its draft scheme for the twice-a-year board exam format in accordance with the new education policy.
Bains alleged that CBSE is planning to remove the 'Punjabi' language as the second language from the board exams for Classes 10 and 12. "We strongly object to CBSE's new exam pattern scheme, which attempts to erase Punjabi!," he said.
"Punjabi must be designated as the main language in Punjab and further be included as a regional language in CBSE for the rest of the nation, as it is spoken and read across multiple states. Any attack on Punjabi will not be tolerated," he added.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) also strongly opposed the removal of Punjabi as an option in the regional language list by the CBSE for Class X and XII standard students and demanded its immediate restoration.
Former Punjab Education Minister and senior SAD leader Dr. Daljit Singh Cheema said it was shocking to see that the CBSE working under the union government had removed Punjabi as a regional language option for students.
He said earlier Punjabi had been removed as a regional language option in Jammu and Kashmir also.
He spoke about how Punjabi is a widely spoken language in the country and its removal as a regional language option amounted to discriminating against Punjabis settled in different States in India.
Cheema said it was very strange that the Centre was adopting such a discriminatory attitude towards Punjabi language. He said day by day the central government was taking anti-Punjab and anti-Punjabi decisions indicating the BJP was adopting a revengeful attitude against Punjabis for not voting for the party in successive elections.
He said the SAD would not take this lying down. “We will oppose this move tooth and nail. We will launch a sustained campaign to get this anti-Punjabi decision reversed”.
Cheema said the clarification by the CBSE seems to be an afterthought and an attempt to cover up its attempt to do away with the Punjabi language as a regional language option.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has clarified that there is no change in the subjects currently offered for Class X board examinations, following concerns over the exclusion of Punjabi (code 004) from a newly issued draft policy.
"There is no change in the list of subjects offered at present. The list in the draft policy is indicative. All subjects offered at present will continue in the Class 10 Board exams in both phases," said CBSE Examination Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj.
The CBSE officials clarified that the draft norms do not mention 13 other languages and reiterated that they would continue to be offered.
The 13 other languages are Russian, Nepali, Limboo, Lepcha, Sindhi, Malayalam, Odia, Assamese, Kannada, Kokborok, Telugu, Arabic and Persian.
The CBSE had yesterday approved draft norms for conducting the Class 10 Board exams twice a year.
The draft norms will now be put in the public domain and the stakeholders can submit their feedback by March 9, following which the policy will be finalized.