Dalit rights activist Kancha Ilaiah advocates Andhra Pradesh government's English medium move

He said that many poor children from backward classes and communities need support from the government and felt Telangana state should also have the similar statutes.

Dalit intellectual Kancha Ilaiah (File Photo)

HYDERABAD: Lauding Andhra Pradesh government’s decision of making English medium compulsory in schools, Dalit rights activist Kancha Ilaiah said that only children from affluent families can pursue education in English medium.

He also said that many poor children from backward classes and communities need support from the government. He opined that Telangana state should also have the similar statutes. Ilaiah was speaking after launching a book, ‘Forgotten Communities of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh: A Story of De-notified Tribes’ written by Vijay Korra at Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) on Friday.

Advocating for English education at the national level, the writer said, “How do you educate a denotified-tribe in his mother tongue and make him ready for national needs. Unless you have a national language, how do you become ‘national’? If the education is provided in English, India will become better than Europe in the next 50 to 100 years.”