Going against party line, ex-Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai opposes CBSE's 3-language mandate; pushes for reversal

CHENNAI: Former Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai Tuesday came out against his own party-headed government at the Centre on the issue of threelanguage policy, demanding that the CBSE withdraw its recent notification for schools.

In a post on X, Annamalai said the May 15 notification violated the previous notices on the policy. “In April 2026, it was explicitly mentioned the third language for class IX children studying in CBSE schools will be made compulsory only from the academic year 2029-30, which is three years from now. On May 15, however, the CBSE sent a notification to all affiliated schools introducing the third compulsory language for class IX students from this academic year...,” he said, adding the latest notification will affect students. “Expecting a class IX student to learn a new language in a short time will only pressure children and affect their learning outcomes.”