All Bengaluru schools under RTE Act to be compulsory Kannada medium

In a move that gives a forceful boost to the mother tongue in Karnataka, the government on Tuesday passed a bill to make Kannada language a mandatory subject from Class 1 to 10 in schools affiliated to the Karnataka board, and a compulsory medium of instruction from Class 1 to five.  According to reports in the media, the bill also makes it mandatory to use only Kannada as the language for instruction till Class 5.

According to a report in The Times of India, the state government also passed an amendment to The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 as the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2015.

Section 29 (2) (f) of the RTE Act says, “Medium of instruction shall, as far as practicable, be in the child’s mother tongue,” but in the amended version the government has removed the clause “as far as practicable” thus making Kannada mandatory .

However, if a minority school which does not come under the RTE Act, can have lessons in English. Speaking to Economic Times, lawyer KV Dhananjay, who was fighting against the state government said, “This means the Hindu and the Kannadiga children in Karnataka are denied the right to education in English, while minority children and non-Kannadigas can study in English medium.”

The bill will cover all schools – government, CBSE, ICSE and international schools – that come under the RTE Act. According to this report in The Deccan Herald, the government tried to pass this law earlier but Supreme Court had quashed it. The amendment will become law only after the President gives his nod to it.

However, this decision of the Karnataka government is expected to meet with its fair share of protests. Opposition leaders, teachers, parents and school associations slammed the government for this move which according to them is a political gimmick.

Opposition leader Jagdish Shettar slammed the government for the impulsive move and told Bangalore Mirror , “The bill has to get President of India’s assent as it is something to do with the fundamental rights. I doubt the bill will get President’s assent. This bill is nothing but an eyewash technique by the state government and cannot be executed.”

The report in the Bangalore Mirror said that  a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court had stated “that the right to decide the medium of instruction should be left to the parents of students.”

English medium school associations were not happy lot either and said that if at all they wanted to amend the Act it should be done only at a central level. Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, Karnataka Associated Managements of English Medium Schools general secretary D Shashi Kumar speaking to said:

“I don’t understand why the Government is going for a cheap political move. They are now coming with the RTE amendment which cannot be implemented at the state level. If at all RTE needs to be amended, it should be done only at the Central level. The State is trying to utilise one of the provisions in RTE which says that as far as possible medium of instruction should be mother tongue. However, this is not possible as in a classroom you will find students from different mother tongues. How can we teach in so many mother tongues? I don’t understand why they want to force the other students learn what their own children are not learning? To sum up, this rule is in contempt of SC Constitutional bench judgment.”

Taking offence to the government decisions, miffed parents said that the state government should not preach how they should educate their own children, Supriya S, a parent and member of a parents’ association said:

Why is the government eager to teach us what we need to teach our kids. I will welcome the move provided all the netas admit their kids in Kannada medium. This is like preaching us what to do which they never practice. I completely oppose this tooth and nail. We always love to teach Kannada as a subject to kids but never as a medium of instruction as this will affect the long-time career of the students.

But totally unfazed by these criticisms a triumphant looking Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told The Times of India  that he was ready to lead the the delegation of all CMs to the President, “I am going to raise the issue in the forthcoming National Development Council meeting.”