Government of Tamil Nadu. firm on bilingual policy, not to provide land to Navodaya schools: Minister Rajmohan

Education Minister Rajmohan. File | Photo credit: RAGU R

Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Rajmohan on Friday (September 18, 2026) said the government remains firm on its bilingual policy in schools and will continue its existing stand of not providing land for setting up Navodaya (CBSE syllabus) schools.

Mr. Rajmohan was responding to a question during a press conference at the High Court Secretariat in Chennai on Thursday (September 17), giving the Tamil Nadu government three months to comply with its December 15, 2025 directive to identify the necessary land for setting up Navodaya schools in each district.

The Supreme Court said that Tamil Nadu must change its “mindset” that Hindi cannot be taught on state soil and warned that “individual states cannot act as individual countries”. Justice BV Nagarathna’s oral submissions came in a nearly hour-long hearing on the adoption of the Navodaya Vidyalaya program in the state.

“As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, we are following a bilingual policy and will continue to do so. There will be no change in our stand,” Mr. Rajmohan said. “Justice BV Nagarathna has given his opinion. This is not a verdict. Court proceedings are on. We are not against Hindi or any other language. We are successfully running model schools and many students from these schools have excelled in higher education,” he added.

Published – 18 Sep 2026 16:32 IST