THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Hindi school teachers submitted a petition to Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala demanding Hindi be taught from class I. They also sought intoduction of Hindi teacher vacancies in over 450 LP schools. The minister has promised that the demands will be placed before the government.
He spoke after inaugurating a state conference of Hindi Adhyapak Manch (HAM), an association of Hindi teachers. Chennithala said that Hindi was an important medium to ensure the unity of the country.
SCERT Director S Raveendran Nair said that in the 41st Curriculum Steering Committee, the suggestion of introducing Hindi in class I was made.
New vacancies need to be created to teach the children from class I to IV; apart from preparing a textbook to suit a class I student, the curriculum in class V need to be redesigned, he said.
This would call for a bigger budget so the demand to introduce Hindi in class I will be realised only if there is a policy change and strong political will, he said.
Other issues faced by Hindi teachers were raised in the forum. HAM patron Anilkumar N S said that the timetable, revised this academic year, was unscientific. Five minutes were taken from every period to make time for an eighth period dedicated to extra-curricular activities.