Bilingual textbooks for 1000 government schools in Karnataka to use English

The bilingual books have a sentence in English and then in Kannada, with pictorial representations.M T Reju, Commissioner of Public Instruction, told TNIE.
Image used for representational purpose only
Image used for representational purpose only

BENGALURU: Preparations are in full swing to equip government schools with faculty and study materials required to introduce English as a medium of instruction. Tenders are being floated to procure about 1.2 lakh textbooks, most of them bilingual for Class one students.

The bilingual books have a sentence in English and then in Kannada, with pictorial representations.
M T Reju, Commissioner of Public Instruction, told TNIE, "The department was looking at paying about Rs 3 per page for the textbooks, which are being procured via a tender. This includes printing of four books for an average of 30 students per school. Multiplied by a thousand schools spread across the state, the department is looking at 1.2 lakh uniquely-made books."

The proposal from bidders will be accepted until May 8, said sources from the department, and orders for the books will be placed on May 12. “Printed books will be ready by the end of the month, and the distribution if delayed, will extend only till June 20,” said a source.

H N Gopalakrishna, director, Department of State Educational Research and Training, said that while some subjects will follow the state syllabus, others will take up the syllabus prescribed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

Officials from the Karnataka Text Book Society, which is in charge of the textbooks for the schools, said that Math and English books will follow the NCERT syllabus, while Environmental Science (EVS) and Kannada will have state syllabus. “Since NCERT books for Science are available only from Class three, state syllabus has been upgraded a little and used. EVS and Math textbooks will be in the bilingual form.

A scannable QR code, which parents can use for additional information and learning, is part of the NCERT textbooks. The education department is finalising how the QR codes are to be adopted in the bilingual Math and English textbooks,” sources said.

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