Bengaluru: The state government has decided to introduce English medium at select 100 Urdu schools in Karnataka.
The Department of School Education and Literacy decided to upgrade 100 Urdu-medium government schools into Karnataka Public Schools (KPS) at the instance of the Department of Minority Welfare. Furthermore, the Minority Welfare Department has offered to allocate Rs 100 crore for upgrading the selected schools.
Minister for School Education and Literacy Madhu Bangarappa told DH, “Parents want to enrol their children in English-medium schools. So, we have decided to upgrade 100 Urdu-medium schools to KPS where bilingual education, both Urdu and English will be offered.”
Incidentally, 400 schools where Urdu had been the medium of instruction switched to English/Bilingual in 2020, according to data from the School Education Department. “At the 18th State-Level Review Meeting convened to discuss the implementation of the Prime Minister’s 15-point programme, a decision was taken to start English-medium sections at Urdu schools. Although there were plans to do so in 1,000 schools, that did not come to fruition owing to various reasons,” said an official from the department.
English has been adopted as the medium of instruction from class one along with Urdu in these 400 schools. However, the 100 schools slated to be upgraded will have English as a medium of instruction right from LKG.
Enrolment at Urdu-medium schools has been on the decline with parents opting to send their children to private English-medium schools. Not only will switching to English drive enrolment, it will also enable more children from minority communities to pursue higher education, added the official from the School Education Department.
Of the more than 4,000 Urdu-medium schools under the purview of School Education and Literacy Department, admission has plummeted to single digits in several schools. “Schools with very low admissions will be merged with the 100 earmarked for upgradation,” the official said.
Minister for Minority Welfare B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan said that as announced in the State Budget, the Minority Welfare Department will provide financial assistance to the School Education Department for upgrading 100 Urdu-medium schools, where a bilingual system will be introduced. These schools will offer education for students from LKG to PU.