BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday noted that it will have to stay the order if the state government does not reconsider its decision to make Kannada a compulsory language for undergraduate courses in Karnataka from the academic year 2021-22 under the National Education Policy-2020.
When the PIL was taken up for hearing, the Advocate General Prabhuling K Navadagi raised the preliminary objection arguing that it is not a regular course. If somebody, wants a job in Karnataka, he or she has to study Kannada.
A division bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum observed that, “You (State) don’t insist on Kannada. Whatever, in any manner, you cannot impose any subject for the students who come to Karnataka. For the job seekers from other states, you can put a condition, so that we can give you time for reconsideration of the decision. If you say so, we will give you time, otherwise we will stay,” the court said while adjourning the hearing to November 10, 2021.
Senior Counsel SS Naganand, representing the petitioners, argued that the academic year now began and the students have to make a choice. Then, the court adjourned the hearing, understanding that government will reconsider its decision and the Advocate General will advise the government.
Claiming that students coming from other states who have not learned Kannada are bound to fail as they cannot study the language at graduation level which has been made compulsory, the petitioners have also stated that the government orders would affect more than 1.30 lakh students and 4,000 language teachers in the state.
The petitioners have contended that every student has to opt for Kannada irrespective of whether they have previously studied Kannada in school or pre-university. This means that every student who enrolls for a degree course in the state must study Kannada, which includes students from other states/countries irrespective of their mother tongue and regional language.