The Supreme Court of India has issued a directive regarding the language curriculum in Navodaya Vidyalaya schools located within Tamil Nadu. The court ruled that the state government does not have the authority to bar the teaching of Hindi in these central government-run institutions. This decision follows a long-standing tension between the state’s regional language policy and the central government's educational framework.

Navodaya Vidyalayas are residential schools funded by the central government, designed to provide quality education to talented students, particularly from rural areas. The central government has maintained that these schools must follow a uniform curriculum that includes Hindi as a subject. Conversely, the Tamil Nadu government has historically resisted the imposition of Hindi, citing the state's long-standing 'two-language policy'—which promotes Tamil and English—and concerns over linguistic identity.

The court’s order mandates that the state government must facilitate the implementation of the central curriculum, including Hindi instruction, within the next three months. While the court acknowledged the state's position, it emphasized that central institutions operating within the state must adhere to the national educational standards set by the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti. The ruling effectively overrides the state's previous attempts to restrict Hindi in these specific schools. As of now, the Tamil Nadu government has not issued a formal statement on how it plans to reconcile this court order with its existing state-level language policies, leaving the practical implementation of the ruling as a point of potential future friction.