German Ambassador Michael Steiner said here on Sunday that the Indian government would find a way to continue German lessons in Kendriya Vidyalayas.
“The Government of India is interested in finding a solution and has shown this at the highest levels. I have talked to different Ministries in the last two days which are all interested in finding a practical solution … I think India would not do anything very different from other countries which also offer foreign languages in school,” he said.
German had been offered as a third language in government-run Kendriya Vidyalayas from classes VI to VIII since 2011 following a MoU with the German government’s Goethe-Institut. A recent decision of the Board of Governors of the Kendriya Vidyalayas, chaired by Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani, discontinued this — offering Sanskrit and other languages instead.
“German and Sanskrit are brother languages that have many similarities in grammar and words…But if a student wants to learn a modern language to improve his professional prospects and learn skills, he should be given this option,” Mr. Steiner said.
KVs are now starting classes to help students currently learning German to switch to other languages in the middle of their course.
