Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar on Friday said that around 130 private schools affiliated to various boards will receive notices for not implementing the compulsory Kannada language rule in their schools and for not attending the workshop organised by the government on Friday in this regard.
The workshop was organised by the Department of Primary and Secondary Education and the Kannada Development Authority (KDA), Deccan Herald reported. The workshop was being conducted as the state government has started implementing the Compulsory Kannada Language Learning Act 2015, which came into force since the academic year of 2017.
Several schools in Bengaluru North and South affiliated to the ICSE, CBSE and IGCSE, were invited for the workshop and 30% of the schools did not send representatives for the workshop, The Hindu reported.
According to The Hindu, 510 schools had registered to attend this workshop and out of them only 380 sent either a teacher or principal to attend. Minister Suresh Kumar said that notices would be sent to schools that were absent for this workshop and fines would be imposed if the schools do not start following rules.
Reports stated that 159 schools in Bengaluru have not implemented the rule that mandates children to learn Kannada language.
“Some schools think that it is inferior to teach Kannada. I have observed during my visit that some schools have no Kannada teachers and there are those who are not qualified enough, and if they have everything, they have no timetable for Kannada. This attitude will not be tolerated by any government. It is a law of the land and it is the responsibility of each one to follow. Now, we are requesting the schools with love, but later, we will be forced to act according to the law,” Deccan Herald quoted Suresh Kumar as saying.
According to the DIPR officials, students who join Karnataka schools between classes 2 and 9 from other states can learn Kannada with class 1 textbooks irrespective of which class they are in. The board exams for these students would also be in sync with the textbook they learn from. Students can request separate question papers and circulars would be issued in this regard, TOI reported.