MALAYALAM LANGUAGE LEARNING ACT, 2017 THE MALAYALAM LANGUAGE LEARNING ACT, 2017 [Act No. 08 of 2017] An Act to provide for teaching Malayalam as a compulsory language
in all schools in the State and for matters connected therewith or incidental
thereto. Whereas, it is expedient to
provide for teaching Malayalam as compulsory language in all schools in the
State and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto; Be it enacted in the Sixty-eighth
Year of the Republic of India as follows:-- (1)
This Act may be called the Malayalam Language Learning Act, 2017. (2)
It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 10th day of
April, 2017. (1)
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-- (a)
"Government" means Government of Kerala; (b)
"prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this
Act; (c)
"schools" mean Government, aided and un-aided schools,
and includes un-aided schools affiliated to any of the boards such as the
Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) or the Council for the Indian
Schools Certificate Examination (CISCE); (d)
"State" means the State of Kerala. (2)
Words and expressions used and not defined in this Act, but
defined in the Kerala Education Act, 1958 (6 of 1959) and the Kerala Education
Rules, 1959 shall have the same meaning respectively assigned to them in the
said Act and the Rules. (1) Notwithstanding
anything contained in any Act or any rules or orders made there under for the
time being in force, Malayalam shall be taught as a language in classes from
first standard 10 tenth standard in all schools in the State from the academic
year 2017-18: Provided that in those
schools including linguistic minority schools where Malayalam language is not
being taught as per the existing curriculum at the date of commencement of this
Act, the State Council for Education Research and Training (SCERT) shall
prepare text book for teaching Malayalam and the same shall be taught. (2)
No restriction shall be imposed for speaking Malayalam in schools
in the State either directly or indirectly. (3)
No board or notice shall be displayed or no other campaign shall
be conducted in schools in the State imposing restrictions in speaking
Malayalam language or that some other language alone shall be spoken. (4)
If there are situations where learning Malayalam language in the
respective classes as per curriculum is not possible for the students who come
from other States or foreign countries to the State and continue studies in the
schools, such students may be exempted from Malayalam language examination in
the tenth standard as per the existing curriculum and shall be taught the Malayalam
text books prepared by the State Council for Educational Research and Training
(SCERT). (5)
Malayalam language learning shall be made as a condition for
granting No Objection Certificate to schools under the Central Board of
Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Council for the Indian School Certificate
Examination (CISCE) where trilingual curriculum is existing and the no
objection certificate of the schools which are not provided with such Malayalam
learning shall be cancelled: Provided that in such
schools, for the students who are not studying Malayalam as a language in the
classes where bilingual curriculum is followed text books prepared by the State
Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) for learning Malayalam
language shall be taught. (6) Teaching
Malayalam language in all classes from first standard to tenth standard shall
be made as a condition for granting recognition to un-aided schools under the
provisions of the Kerala Education Act, 1958 and rules made thereunder. (7)
Government shall provide necessary facilities for learning
Malayalam progressively in schools exclusively for linguistic minorities and in
oriental schools, in the manner as may be prescribed. (1) The
Headmaster of the school that violates the provisions of sub-section (2) or "sub-section (3) of
section 3 of this Act shall be imposed with a fine of five thousand rupees. (2)
An officer not below the rank of Deputy Director of Education
authorized by Government in this behalf shall realize the fine under
sub-section (1), from such Headmaster, in the manner as may be prescribed. (3)
Against an order under sub-section (1), the Headmaster may file an
appeal before the Director of Public Instruction within thirty days from the
date of receipt of such order and such appeal shall be disposed of within
thirty days from the date of its submission. (4)
If there occurs three violations of the provisions of sub-section
(2) or sub-section (3) of section 3, in the case of un-aided schools the
recognition of such schools may be cancelled and in the case of schools
affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Council
for the Indian Schools Certificate Examination (CISCE) the no objection certificate
granted to such schools may be cancelled by the Government, in the manner as
may be prescribed. No civil court shall
entertain any suit, application or other proceeding in respect of any order issued
under this Act. (1)
The Government may, by notification in the Gazette, make rules
with prospective or retrospective effect, for the purpose of carrying out the
provisions of this Act. (2)
Every rule made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be
after it is made, before the Legislative Assembly while it is in session for a
total period of fourteen days which may be comprised in one session or in two
successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session in which it is so
laid or the session immediately following the Legislative Assembly makes any
modification in the rule or decides that the rule should not be made, the rule
shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as
the case may be, so however that any such modification or annulment shall be
without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule. (1) if any
difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the
Government may by Order published in the Gazette do anything not inconsistent
with the provisions of this Act, which appears to them to be necessary or
expedient for removing the difficulty: Provided that no Order
shall be made under this section after the expiration of two years from the
date on which this Act comes into force. (2) Every
Order published under this section shall, as soon as may be after its
publication, be laid before the Legislative Assembly. (1)
Malayalam Language (Compulsory Language) Ordinance, 2017 (5 of
2017) is hereby repealed. (2)
Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken
under the said Ordinance shall be deemed to have been done or taken under this
Act.
Preamble - MALAYALAM LANGUAGE LEARNING ACT, 2017PREAMBLE