BENGALURU: With Karnataka set to implement the National Education Policy-2020 (NEP), some prominent writers as well as the Kannada Sahitya Parishat have advocated that the Central Government mandatorily implement the regional language as the medium of instruction up to Class 5, and not as an option. They have also written to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa requesting him to take up the issue with the Prime Minister.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, noted writer and novelist S L Bhyrappa, Jnanpith awardee Chandrashekara Kambara and Sahitya Parishat president Manu Baligar have said that the state language should be the primary medium of education in the NEP. For this, an amendment to Article 21 (A) of the Constitution is necessary. “We request you to amend the Statute and implement this at the earliest,’’ their letter says.
Baligar said that they had written letter to the PM in this regard in August. Speaking to TNSE, Baligar pointed out that the NEP allows for the regional language/mother tongue as an option for medium of instruction. “If this choice is given, people will not opt for it. They will, instead, prefer English medium,’’ he argued, and added that it should be made mandatory and not optional.
In 1981, the V K Gokak Committee had recommended Kannada as the medium of education in schools across Karnataka. Later, in 1994, the Karnataka Government issued the Language Policy which stressed on Kannada as the medium of instruction in all primary schools.
PM’s take will boost appeal, says Baligar
However, the recommendation was challenged in various courts. “In 2014, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court ruled that it is the left to the parents to choose the medium of instruction. Thus, the State Government lost its 33-year fight. The NEP also says that instruction in regional language/mother tongue is optional. But, in his recent speech, the PM has spoken about the importance of regional languages. We hope this will boost our appeal,’’ Baligar added.