Data show Sanskrit and Hindi are choices for third language in many Indian schools

Debate over Tamil Nadu's three-language policy continues as crucial data on languages taught in schools remains scarce.

With the debate over Tamil Nadu’s refusal to adopt the three-language policy still ongoing, the latest data needed to address key questions on the issue is lacking. Vital data that could help bring clarity is the list of languages currently being taught in schools across the States.

Notably, DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi raised this question in the Lok Sabha (LS) last month. However, the reply only provided the share of schools that taught three-languages, without mentioning the specific languages.

The last survey with this detail was the 2009 All India School Education Survey, which is not publicly available. The Hindu accessed a copy of the report through sources in the Education Ministry. Notably, even in the 2009 survey, school-wise data on languages taught is limited to the primary stage.

However, the insights remain relevant, as the LS reply from 1995 states that 27 States/U.T.s had implemented the three-language formula (Table 1).

Table 1 | The table shows the status of implementation of the three-language formula in States/UTs as per a reply in the Lok Sabha on December 13, 1995

An analysis of the 2009 survey (Table 2) shows that in Bihar, 99.1% of schools taught Hindi, 64% taught English, and 56% taught Sanskrit in the primary stage, with only 8% teaching other languages.

Table 2 | The table shows the share of schools that taught the regional language, English, Hindi, Sanskrit and other languages in the primary stage, across select States, as of 2009