'Govt firm on primary education in Kannada'

Revenue and District in-charge Minister V Srinivas Prasad on Saturday asserted that the government was firm on imparting primary education to the students either in Kannada or their mother tongue.

Addressing the gathering after distributing ‘Kannada Madhyama’ awards to toppers among the Kannada medium students in SSLC and PUC courses, instituted by Kannada Development Authority (KDA) at Kalamandir here, Prasad said there was no confusion over extending primary education in Kannada or mother tongue.

Further, Prasad said, in the existing system the State government had the responsibility to decide over the medium of instruction. “Accordingly, it was decided in the cabinet after much deliberation on the issue.”

Stressing on the usage of Kannada language in all levels of administration, Prasad lauded the Kannada Development Authority (KDA) for taking the initiative of verifying the same from the chief secretary’s office in Bengaluru.

Prasad said even the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was committed about the usage of Kannada in administration and had already instructed the departments to make notes in the same. He also asked the Central government departments to incorporate Kannada.

Critic G H Nayak said students and parents should not develop a inferiority complex towards the language. Instead, students should learn both Kannada and English languages.

Kannada Development Authority Chairman L Hanumanthaiah said the demand for equal and uniform education in primary level was applicable to all the languages in the country.

A total of 310 students from Mysuru district were conferred the awards against the total 1,249 students in the State, including 684 from SSLC, and 565 from PUC. The first prize winner was feted with Rs 8,000 cash prize, followed by Rs 7,000 for second prize and Rs 6,000 for third prize. A citation, certificate, wrist watch, school bag, Kannada to Kannada dictionary and Kannada to English dictionary commonly distributed to the recipients of the awards.