The Supreme Court on July 16 questioned why Tamil Nadu is the only state continuing to oppose the opening of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) in its districts, even though the Centre bears the infrastructure costs once land is allotted by the state.
The matter came up before a bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan, in a case filed by the Tamil Nadu government challenging a Madras High Court direction to establish Navodaya schools in every district.
During the hearing, the state sought 12 weeks’ time on the issue. The bench declined the request and directed the government to submit an appropriate explanation within three weeks.
Justice Nagarathna also flagged concerns about introducing a third language in Class 9, noting that Class 10 is a board-exam year across CBSE, ICSE and state boards and that academic pressure begins soon after Class 8. She suggested that if a new language is to be introduced, it could begin from Class 6 instead, and said teaching a third language in Class 9 should be stopped.
The bench directed the state to provide its response by August 11.
