Representative image showing students.
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Hyderabad: Telangana had issued orders making Telugu a compulsory subject to be taught at all the schools in the state, including those affiliated with central boards like CBSE, ICSE, and international curricula like IB.
Telangana's decision on Telugu comes at a time when a language war is brewing between another southern state, Tamil Nadu, and the BJP-led Centre. The fresh orders were issued on Tuesday in compliance with the Telangana (Compulsory Teaching and Learning of Telugu in Schools) Act, 2018.
“It's not a new law or act. We are only implementing an already existing act,” a senior education department official told DH. While the Act was passed during the previous BRS regime, it was not implemented until now.
The Congress government has now decided to implement it for the ninth and tenth standards from academic years 2025–26 and 2026–27, respectively.
To ease the transition for the new learners, Telangana government has approved the use of Simple Telugu -Vennela instead of Standard Telugu -Singidi for students of Classes 9 and 10. Students from other states and those whose mother tongue is not Telugu will find the book easier to learn.
Telugu had to be taught in government Zilla Parishad, mandal parishad, aided schools, and schools with CBSE, ICSE, IB, and other boards after the Telangana (Compulsory Teaching and Learning of Telugu in Schools) Act was passed in 2018. However, the previous BRS government did not fully implement the policy.
Though the Act was not implemented in all the private schools, many CBSE and ICSE schools in Hyderabad have made Telugu a compulsory subject until Class 5.