There is hardly any gathering in Madurai that ends without hailing the land for having been the seat of Tamil Sangam, an ancient language academy established for the development of Tamil. In the present day context, it may not be an exaggeration to say that the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has to a great extent played the role of the Sangam by contributing to the growth of the language through a series of judgements.
What could be a surprise to many is that it is the same court, which follows English as its official language and continues to identify itself as a Bench of the ‘Madras’ High Court and not Chennai or Tamil Nadu High Court even on its Tamil name board, that has passed orders for the use of Tamil as the official language of lower courts in the State and to teach the classical language to people across the globe through correspondence courses.
One of the most significant contribution of the Bench towards promoting the cause of Tamil is a direction issued to School Education Department last year to make 108 out of the 133 chapters – excluding 25 chapters dealing with sensuality – of Tirukkural a part of school syllabus from this year and ensure that students from Class VI to XII get to learn the couplets and their intended meaning in depth and not just superficially as was being done all these years.
Expressing concern over declining moral values among schoolchildren and the youth, Justice R. Mahadevan of Madras High Court said: “Children, whose quest for knowledge is unlimited, should be drawn into moral principles at an early age so that they do not get deviated. The future of every country lies at the hands of younger generation. It is the duty of the State to show them the rightful path and there is no other better philosophy than what is preached in Tirukkural .”
Pursuant to the direction, the State Government instructed the Director of School Education and the Director of State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) to take necessary steps for implementing the court’s order.
Accordingly, an expert committee was constituted to suggest the methodology for teaching 1,080 couplets to the students depending upon their age and level of understanding. The committee analysed the issue threadbare and submitted its report in February this year.
It was suggested that a total of 1,050 couplets in 105 chapters alone could be taught to the students at the rate of 15 chapters for each class beginning from VI to XII. Apart from chapters 109 to 133 which deal with sensuality and fall under the category of ‘Kamathupaal’, the committee also excluded chapters 15 (Not desiring for another’s wife - Piran Il Vilayamai ) , 91 ( Uxoriousness - Penvazhi Seral ) and 92 (Immoral women - Varaivin Magalir ) despite these chapters falling under the divisions ‘Arathupaal’ (righteousness) and ‘Porutpaal’ (material life).
Accepting the suggestion, a Government Order has been issued for teaching the 1,050 couplets from the academic year 2017-18 and a detailed plan has also been annexed to it explaining the chapters that would be taught in each class. The G.O., issued by School Education Secretary T. Udhayachandran, has described Tirukkural as a treasure trove of knowledge that not only preaches moral values but also happens to be one of the greatest contribution of Tamil language to world literature.
Further, going a step ahead of the direction issued by the court, the G.O. also instructed the Director of the SCERT to propagate the greatness of Tirukkural through Internet by producing cartoons and songs on the basis of the moral values highlighted in the couplets and update the web content periodically so that it could reach the Tamils living around the world.
If all goes well and if the court order and the consequent G.O. get implemented in letter and spirit, the High Court Bench here could certainly take pride in having contributed its mite for a good cause.
