TUMKUR: Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV), Tumkur, may become the first autonomous institution under the Union government with CBSE syllabus to introduce Kannada as a regional language.
A decision to this effect was recently made under the chairmanship of the deputy commissioner.
However, there will be no compulsion to study the language; those with the love of the language can take up the classes, which will have no examinations.
The classes will be introduced for classes VI, VII and VIII from the next academic year once the assistant commissioner of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sanghatan (KVS), Bangalore region, gives the green signal.
KV Tumkur principal Madhumathi clarified that a school development committee meeting chaired by Deputy Commissioner C Somashekara has decided to introduce Kannada; a proposal will be sent to KVS, Bangalore, shortly.
A Kannada teacher would be appointed on contract basis to teach Kannada, she informed.
Presently, apart from the core subjects, students are studying Hindi and English compulsorily.Apparently, the sense prevailing, notably among parents, that their children were being alienated from their mother tongue urged the DC, a Kannada scholar himself, to introduce the language.
According to sources, Tumkur MP G S Basavaraju, too, had spoken to KVS Commissioner Avinash Dikshit based in New Delhi and convinced him in this regard.
Reacting to the move, one of the parents expressed happiness at the decision. “Our children were finding it difficult to even construct and write small sentences,” he revealed.