Lobbying against the HRD Ministry’s decision to scrap German as a third language in schools, German Ambassador Michael Steiner has been reaching out to Sanskrit Shikshak Sangh and holding meetings with stakeholders in education.
According to sources, the Centre is viewing Mr. Steiner’s activities as “uncalled-for” and incompatible with an envoy’s role.
HRD Minister Smriti Irani had last week decided to remove teaching of German as third language and replace it with Sanskrit. She said the 2011 Memorandum of Understanding with Goethe Institut violated the national education policy framework and was “unconstitutional”.
Mr. Steiner tweeted on Sunday: “Sanskrit Shikshak Sangh supported my idea to organise, early 2015, conference on Indo-Germanic language family” and added that he had “in-depth exchange with... Sangh leaders on Sanskrit and German in a very friendly atmosphere”.
Sangh officials, however, clarified that they explained to the German envoy that there could not be any rethink on the Centre’s decision to replace German with Sanskrit as it violated the three-language formula. Students can still study the foreign language as an “additional” subject as government has decided to retain the teachers hired as per the 2011 MoU.
