India: two messages

[Harold F. Schiffman]

1.   Call for uniform language policy
22 Sep, 2006 ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK

BANGALORE: The Federation of Unaided Schools in Karnataka on Friday urged
the state government to have a uniform language policy for all schools in
the state. Association president K S Kumari told reporters here that it is
unfair to deprive lakhs of children from studying the universal language
English. "Why is it that poor children have to study in Kannada medium
while the rich and the affluent get to study in English medium
schools?"Kumari asked. Decrying the government's decision to shut down the
schools in the middle of the academic year, Kumari urged primary and
secondary education minister Basavaraj Horatti to come out with a
practical solution to the problem.

Sahitya parishat: In a separate statement, president of the Kannada
Sahitya Parishat Chandrasekhara Patil has urged chief minister H D
Kumaraswamy not to buckle under pressure and go back on the decision to
close down the institutions, which are violating the language policy. "The
CM must find a solution to the lakhs of students studying in these schools
but not withdraw its decision to close down these schools,"Patil said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2019026.cms

2. Stop creating problems in the name of language: Biocon chief

Date:22/09/2006 URL:
http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/22/stories/2006092224820400.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karnataka - Bangalore

Staff Reporter

Yediyurappa says it is important to teach English to children


Bangalore: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chief Managing Director of Biocon, has
appealed to the State Government to resolve the controversy over the
violation of language policy by primary schools in the State. She was
speaking at a function organised to release a mathematics book, "Chinnara
Ganitha", in Kannada at a school in Anekal taluk on Thursday. Ms. Shaw
said that unnecessary problems should not be created in the name of a
language. "Any form of education is necessary... The controversy has
created a lot of problems for children and parents," she said.

Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, who released the book, said
English education was necessary to enable students to compete effectively.
Some people had a wrong notion that encouraging English would mean
discouraging Kannada, he said. Mr. Yediyurappa told presspersons that the
Government would conduct discussions and resolve the controversy. "People
who are concerned about the development of the State know that it is
important to teach our students English. But this should not hurt the
interest of Kannada either," he said.

Self-help book

"Chinnara Ganitha" is self-help mathematics book in Kannada for students
of first and second standard. The book is a collaborative effort of Biocon
Foundation and MacMillan India and aims at making mathematics fun for
children by replacing rote learning with a clear understanding of basic
math concepts. Ms. Shaw said that the book was part of efforts by Biocon
Foundation to include students from rural areas into the knowledge
economy, of which mathematics was an important part. The author of the
book was Prathima Rao, who teaches physics, computer science and
mathematics at Baldwin Girls High School. The book will be made available
to students in Anekal taluk in the first phase.

***********************************************************************************

N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of
the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a
message are encouraged to post a rebuttal.

***********************************************************************************