<div dir="ltr"><h1 class="">Post-HC order, Karnataka schools rush to switch to English medium</h1><div class=""><div class="">By ET Bureau | 28 Nov, 2014, 04.00AM IST</div><br></div><div style="width:305px;float:left;margin-bottom:20px"><div class="" id="DfpVisibilityIdentifier_4749042261265356">
<table style="border-style:solid;border-width:1px;border-color:rgb(235,235,235)" height="90" width="300" bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" align="left"><table style="border-width:0px;border-color:rgb(235,235,235)" width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="padding:2px 2px 0px 5px" colspan="2" height="50%" valign="bottom" bgcolor="#ffffff"><br></td></tr><tr><td style="padding:0px 0px 5px 5px" valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"><br></td><td style="padding-right:5px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-top:2px" valign="top" align="right" bgcolor="#ffffff"><br></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align:right"><br></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>
</div></div><div class=""><img src="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/thumb/msid-45302373,width-310,resizemode-4/post-hc-order-karnataka-schools-rush-to-switch-to-english-medium.jpg" alt="This follows a recent High Court order that allowed a privately-run society to start a new school with English as the medium." title="This follows a recent High Court order that allowed a privately-run society to start a new school with English as the medium." class="" vspace="0" width="310" border="0">This follows a recent High Court order that allowed a privately-run society to start a new school with English as the medium.</div><div class=""><div class=""><br></div></div>BENGALURU:
Thousands of schools are likely to approach the Karnataka education
department seeking permission to "officially" switch over to English as
the medium of instruction. This follows a recent High Court order that
allowed a privately-run society to start a new school with English as
the medium. <br><br> The Associated Managements of <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/English-Medium" target="_blank">English Medium</a>
School in Karnataka (KAMS) and Karnataka State Private School
Management Federation have asked its member-schools to approach the
government seeking either conversion of medium or for permission to run
Classes 1-5 in English. There are close to 4,000 English-medium schools
in <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Bengaluru" target="_blank">Bengaluru</a>, but those started after April 1994 were permitted to run Classes 1-5 in <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Kannada" target="_blank">Kannada</a> under the state's language policy, which was struck down by the Supreme Court in May this year. <br><br>
Even after the SC direction, the government had been insisting on
Kannada in Classes 1-5. But it is an open secret that they are offering
English as the medium. "We will submit our proposals again seeking
conversion to English medium. If we don't, the government would consider
us as unauthorized schools for offering English medium," said KAMS
general secretary D Shashi Kumar. Part of the rush could be contained,
thanks to the government laying down stringent norms for starting new
schools. <br><br> New schools mandatorily require to have one acre of
land in Bengaluru, have to pay a steep registration fee (ranging from Rs
25,000 to Rs 1 lakh), comply with safety guidelines and restrict
strength of classrooms to a predefined number. "We have asked the
government to convert our medium without levying these regulations as we
are existing schools," Kumar said. <br><br> "This is a policy matter.
The government will take the final decision. The 2015-16 academic year
starts next June and we have time till then to decide. Meanwhile, we
will continue receiving applications," Commissioner for Public
Instruction Mohammad Mohsin told ET. <br><br> Chandan Gowda, professor
of sociology at Azim Premji University, told ET that the High Court
order only reflects only one reality: that parents - who can afford -
prefer English education for their children. <br><br> "I don't think
this will lead to a rush in applications to start new English schools
because in the last 18-20 years, schools are anyway using English as the
medium," Gowda said. <br><br> Some educationists, however, believe
Kannada must not be ignored. "In the context of these court judgements,
we must also be sensitive that Kannada is the language of the state. Our
language policy should be broader," said Mansoor Ali Khan, member,
board of management, Delhi Public School. <br><br><a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/education/post-hc-order-karnataka-schools-rush-to-switch-to-english-medium/articleshow/45302362.cms">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/education/post-hc-order-karnataka-schools-rush-to-switch-to-english-medium/articleshow/45302362.cms</a><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>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, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
</div>