[lg policy] Karnataka: Schools look to guv to squash lingua fracas

[Harold Schiffman]

Schools look to guv to squash lingua fracas
By Sridhar Vivan, Bangalore Mirror Bureau | Apr 13, 2015, 04.00 AM IST

<http://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/cover-story/Schools-look-to-guv-to-squash-lingua-fracas/articleshow/46900392.cms#write>

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[image: Schools look to guv to squash lingua fracas]
*Schools believe state's language policy will hit students hard*


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.
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.
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.
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.

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."
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.
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."
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."



*SCHOOLS' VIEW*

1 The Governor should not give assent to the amended bill approved by the
Karnataka legislature by briefing him the far reaching implications.
2 The state government decision is against the ruling made by both the
Karnataka High Court and the Supreme Court.
3 Why was school authorities' consensus not taken while deciding on the
matter and no study undertaken to analyse the implications?
4 Choosing medium of instruction should be the discretion of the parents
not the government.

5 Okay with Kannada as a subject but not as a medium of instruction for all
classes.


*THE SC HAS SPOKEN, THE CHOICE IS YOURS*

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. *—Former
Bangalore University vice-chancellor MS Thimmappa*
http://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/cover-story/Schools-look-to-guv-to-squash-lingua-fracas/articleshow/46900392.cms


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