BENGALURU: Kannada activists laid siege to the Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) office on Wednesday, demanding the removal of the Hindi language exam from SSLC exam. Radhakrishna of the Dr Raj Abhimani Sangha alleged that successive governments had promised to drop Hindi from the curriculum but had failed to do so.
“Every year, governments promise us that Hindi will be dropped from the curriculum, but the promise is never fulfilled. Unlike many other states that follow a two-language policy, Karnataka continues with a three-language policy,” he said.
He added that making Hindi compulsory puts many students at a disadvantage. “Students who are not familiar with the language struggle in the exam, which affects their overall percentage. If the government cannot drop the subject, it should at least exclude Hindi marks from the SSLC results,” he said.
Radhakrishna warned that activists would protest at schools on March 18, the day of the Hindi examination, if their demands were not addressed.
In many government-aided and unaided schools, Hindi is taught as the third language based on student choice. Some students opt for other languages such as Sanskrit, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu.
KSEAB Chairman Prakash Nitalli said the board only conducts examinations and implements government decisions. “The language policy is decided by the government and the department. It is not within our jurisdiction.
We will convey the demands to the government,” he told TNIE. The SSLC exam will begin on March 18, starting with the third language paper, including Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Marathi. Around 8,12,855 students are expected to write the exams across 2,871 centres in the state.