Don’t neglect English, it’s important for bread & butter, says Nisar Ahmed

Bengaluru: Kannada should be the medium of instruction from class 1 to 5 but at the same time, English shouldn’t be neglected because it’s accepted globally and it’s important for our bread & butter, said noted Kannada poet KS Nisar Ahmed.
Stressing on protecting and developing Kannada, the 78-year-old writer said prominence should be given to Kannada at the school level, because one cannot go and learn it in England.
But he was quite blunt: “Everyone should abide by the court directive. The government’s efforts to save Kannada and resolve the language policy issue have failed. That’s why we (Kannadigas) have reached this distress point. It has made us defensive.”
On schools offering English medium by violating rules, he said, “Today, this has become such a big mess because the education department has not monitored schools properly. Who are we blaming for this?”
The writer advised the government to promote Kannada by providing jobs for students who do well in the language. “You cannot kill a language to make money,’’ he added.
Chandrashekar Kambar, poet and writer L Hanumanthaiah, who is the chairperson of Kannada Development Authority were among the writers who attended the meeting.