BENGALURU: Karnataka’s private schools, including CBSE and ICSE institutions, are again headed for a legal battle with the state government over the language issue. The government’s decision to make Kannada the compulsory medium of instruction from classes 1 to 5 in all schools has rankled them.

On March 30, the state %legislature passed the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (Karnataka Amendment) Bill 2015 to make Kannada %the medium of instruction at the primary level, amending the RTE Act of 2009.

The bill needs the nod of the Union government and the President to become an Act.

RTE Act applies to all schools, irrespective of the syllabi they follow.

D Shashi Kumar, general secretary of the Karnataka Associated Management of English Medium Schools (KAMS), called the move impractical. He told TOI: “All these years, teachers have been teaching in English. If the bill is implemented, schools will need more than a million teachers well-versed in Kannada. Where will we get so many teachers?”

KAMS is set to file a writ petition before the high court against the bill. “Implementation of this bill is impossible, as it has to be approved in Parliament and needs the assent of political leaders from other states as well,” he said.

Joining KAMS in the legal battle against the government is Management of Independent CBSE Schools Association (MICSA). Mansoor Ali Khan, secretary of MICSA, said after holding a meeting with school associations, MICSA will take a decision.

He pointed out that most teachers in private schools have done schooling, graduation and BEd in English medium. “How can they suddenly start imparting education in Kannada?” he asked.

B Gayethri Devi, secretary of Karnataka ICSE Schools’ Association, said CBSE and ICSE schools are established to facilitate parents with transferrable jobs. “For instance, if a parent is transferred from Assam to Bengaluru, how can her kids learn Kannada suddenly? If Kannada becomes the medium of instruction, people from other states may stop coming to Karnataka,” she said.

The Supreme Court has rejected the curative petition of the state government on language policy, pointed out the chairman of a reputed institution, adding, “Instead of wasting time on making Kannada as compulsory medium of instruction, it should concentrate on producing quality teachers.”

The government has also passed the Kannada Language Learning Bill, 2015 to make Kannada a compulsory subject from classes 1 to 10 in the schools. However, state board schools are not against this bill, as a majority of them are following it. CBSE and ICSE schools, too, offer Kannada as an optional subject either as second or third language.

TOI | Apr 3, 2015

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