PU science classes in Kannada from next academic year

NCERT and Hampi Kannada varsity to collaborate in translation of textbooks

Pre-University science classes will be conducted in Kannada from the next academic year in the State.

The objective of the initiative is to draw more students to science stream. Rural students have been shunning science stream for the sole reason that they find it difficult to answer questions in English.

Though an opportunity had already been provided to answer questions in Kannada, students were hampered by lack of teaching in Kannada.

The present move to impart science classes in Kannada will facilitate students to answer in Kannada, an official of the Pre-University Education Department said.

The textbooks too would be made available in Kannada. Steps have been taken to translate the texts into Kannada in association with National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) and Hampi Kannada University.

Of the 4,50,700 students who appeared for II PU examination 2011, 2,08,390 were from arts stream, 1,25,465 were from commerce and 1,16,845 were from science stream. As many as 1.83 lakh of the total candidates were rural students. Of the total students, 2.28 lakh had studied SSLC in Kannada medium.

More than 50 per cent of the students who pass SSLC prefer to join arts courses. While 5.18 lakh students passed SSLC in 2011, only 1.30 lakh joined science in their pre-university education. The intention of the government is to ensure that at least 70 per cent of the SSLC passouts join commerce and science streams. The move to introduce science classes in Kannada is a step towards realising the objective, an officer said.

With the State government planning to introduce CBSE syllabus for pre-university courses, a ‘bridge course’ will be introduced to help students adapt to the new and upgraded curriculum. Since students may find it tough to study the CBSE syllabus immediately after completion of SSLC, the proposed course would lay the necessary foundation for the change.

The course will be telecast on Doordarshan from April apart from the teaching at classrooms. As many as 3,000 lecturers would be trained in the new curriculum. Coaching classes will also be held to improve English language skills.