<div dir="ltr"><div><div><span class=""><h1>Schools look to guv to squash lingua fracas</h1></span></div><div class=""><span class=""><span class="" style><span id="auim"></span></span>By Sridhar Vivan, Bangalore Mirror Bureau <span style="font-size:9px">|</span> Apr 13, 2015, 04.00 AM IST</span></div></div><div class=""><div id="commentWrapper" class=""><div class="" id="sharebar"><div class=""><div class=""><div><div class="" id="ctcnt1"><a href="http://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/cover-story/Schools-look-to-guv-to-squash-lingua-fracas/articleshow/46900392.cms#write"><div id="ctcnt1in" class=""><div class="" id="ctcnt2in"><br></div></div></a></div><br></div></div><div class=""><div class=""><span style="vertical-align:bottom;width:49px;height:61px"></span></div></div><div class=""><span class="" style="line-height:1;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline-block;text-align:center"><span style="padding:0px!important;margin:0px!important;text-indent:0px!important;display:inline-block!important;vertical-align:baseline!important;font-size:1px!important"><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1428960367151_3-container" class=""><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1428960367151_3" class=""><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1428960367151_3-inner" class=""><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1428960367151_3-content" class="">0</span></span></span></span></span><br><span style="padding:0px!important;margin:0px!important;text-indent:0px!important;display:inline-block!important;vertical-align:baseline!important;font-size:1px!important"><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1428960367146_2"><a id="li_ui_li_gen_1428960367146_2-link"><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1428960367146_2-logo">in</span><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1428960367146_2-title"><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1428960367146_2-mark"></span><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1428960367146_2-title-text">Share</span></span></a></span></span></span></div><div class=""><div id="more"><a id="moreimg1" class=""><span style="color:rgb(2,77,153);font:bold 11px arial"><br></span></a></div></div><div class=""><div class=""><div class="" align="right"><small class="">A</small></div><div class=""><small class="">A</small></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><span name="advenueINTEXT" id="advenueINTEXT"><div style="display:block;float:left;margin-right:20px;line-height:17px" class="" id="storydiv"><div><div id="LeftData" style="float:left;min-width:150px;margin-right:5px"><div id="sshow"><div style="margin-top:3px;margin-left:4px;display:inline;float:left" class=""><div style="padding-left:3px" id="bellyad"><div class=""><div style="float:left"><img style="border: 4px solid rgb(225, 225, 225);" alt="Schools look to guv to squash lingua fracas" title="Schools look to guv to squash lingua fracas" src="http://www.bangaloremirror.com/thumb/msid-46900427,width-300,resizemode-4/school-inn.jpg" border="0" vspace="0" width="300"></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="" id="inc_dec"><div class=""><em>Schools believe state's language policy will hit students hard</em><br> <br> <br>
After the state government ensured the passage of the language policy
which would make it mandatory for every student to study in Kannada
medium from class one to five (but only if it gets the approval of the
President), schools have taken the first step to block the amendment
from becoming a reality. <br> Officials from various schools in the city
are meeting Governor VR Vala at Raj Bhavan on Monday to present their
case as to why he should not sign the amended bill. School managements
have said that it was not right on the part of the state government to
go ahead with the policy as Bengaluru was a cosmopolitan city with
people from different parts of the country residing in it. Asking
everyone to study in Kannada would affect students. Schools, however,
emphasised that they welcomed Kannada as one language. <br> A number of
school officials who spoke to Bangalore Mirror saying they were eagerly
waiting to meet the Governor to apprise him of how the language policy
would affect large numbers of students.<br> Gear International School
principal, who represents CBSE schools, M Srinivasan told BM, "I am
meeting the Governor and looking forward to it and hope that the outcome
will be positive." Karnataka Associated Managements of English Medium
Schools general secretary D Shashi Kumar said: "We have been fighting
against this injustice in court and we have verdicts on our side and yet
the government wants to rein us by bringing in this amendment.<br> <br>
Hence, all the schools in the state are united and we are giving a
representation to the governor not to sign the amendment. Only the
governor can give justice now."<br> But are we forgetting what the whole
purpose of going to school is. "Language is important to connect to the
outside world and to people. English is the most helpful in that. Will
Kannada help students connect to the outside world?" asked Nooraine
Fazal, managing trustee of Inventure Academy. "Some reports do say that
students grasp better in the language they are familiar with. But then
how can we decide that the familiar language is the mother tongue and
mother tongue is only Kannada," she added.<br> Fazal believes students
and parents should be given the right to choose the medium of
instruction and not the government. "As it is getting good teachers are
tough and now getting teachers who can teach in Geography, History,
Mathematics in Kannada is going to be much more difficult." <br>
Gayethri Devi, secretary of the ICSE schools' principals association,
says education is for children to benefit from. "What would the children
who have come from other states and countries or those who are
Bengaluru native but not Kannada speaking do? How will they cope with
this."<br> <br> <br> <br> <strong>SCHOOLS' VIEW</strong><br> <br> 1 The
Governor should not give assent to the amended bill approved by the
Karnataka legislature by briefing him the far reaching implications.<br> 2 The state government decision is against the ruling made by both the Karnataka High Court and the Supreme Court.<br>
3 Why was school authorities' consensus not taken while deciding on the
matter and no study undertaken to analyse the implications?<br> 4 Choosing medium of instruction should be the discretion of the parents not the government.<br> <br> 5 Okay with Kannada as a subject but not as a medium of instruction for all classes. <br> <br> <br> <strong>THE SC HAS SPOKEN, THE CHOICE IS YOURS</strong><br> <br>
First of all, the rule is against the Supreme Court ruling. The ruling
and constitution clearly state that it is the choice of the parent and
student. Mother tongue is as important as English. While one connects
you to your roots, the other connects you to the world outside. Everyone
has a different mother tongue. Let the children learn their mother
tongue as well as English simultaneously. Keeping children away from
English will in a way handicap them, creating a disadvantage for them
and reducing their employability later. It is simple that a person who
speaks English will always have an upperhand over one who cannot. Some
students are from villages and coping with English for them might be
difficult. In that case, it should be parents and students' choice what
their medium of instruction should be. No one else should force this
decision on them. <em><strong>—Former Bangalore University vice-chancellor MS Thimmappa</strong></em><br><a href="http://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/cover-story/Schools-look-to-guv-to-squash-lingua-fracas/articleshow/46900392.cms">http://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/cover-story/Schools-look-to-guv-to-squash-lingua-fracas/articleshow/46900392.cms</a><br></div></div></div></div></span><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>
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