Private schools express difficulty in teaching Kannada

Several private schools in the state affiliated to Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) have expressed their inconvenience in implementing mandatory Kannada as first or the second language.

As the classes for the current academic year resumed a week ago, the schools affiliated to CISCE board demanded the state government to make mandatory Kannada implementation legal by issuing guideline from the board concerned.

A majority of the schools affiliated to other boards in state are teaching Kannada just as a subject and not as first or second language. Though the reports with the Department of Primary and Secondary Education says most schools are following compulsory Kannada, the schools themselves are saying that they were teaching Kannada as a subject and not as first or second language, due to several confusion in implementing the policy.

Addressing a press meet on Tuesday, Dr B Gayatri Devi of All Boards Association (including CBSE, CISCE and state schools) said, “We, CISCE schools, have two-language formula where English is first language and the option of choosing second language is provided to children. But, after this compulsory Kannada rule, non-Karnataka parents are putting pressure on us to teach their mother tongue as second language along with Kannada and it has become burden for kids.”

She clarified that the schools were not against compulsory Kannada rule enforced by the state, but their demand was to make it a regulation by convincing the board concerned.

Currently in CISCE, board allows schools to teach additional second language. “If we get direction from the board to teach only Kannada as second language, we have no issues in implementing the same. Now, we are unnecessarily burdening the children by teaching two second languages,” explained Gayatri Devi.

Meanwhile, the representatives of CBSE schools raised objection over state government prescribing even textbooks to teach Kannada.

M Srinivasan, representing CBSE schools in state said that the government can insist the schools to teach Kannada, but what there was no need to prescribe textbooks. “We request the government not to intervene in our teaching methods.”

The state government brought about a law making teaching Kannada as a language even in private schools affiliated to other boards and the policy came into force last academic year.