Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao on Tuesday said that his state government had decided to make Telugu a mandatory subject in all public and private schools from the coming academic year.
"We decided to make Telugu a compulsory subject as it is our responsibility to respect our mother tongue and our culture. Studying in English medium schools is becoming a must to acquire good education. We don't want to spoil the career of our children and that is the reason we are making it compulsory to include Telugu along with other subjects," KCR was quoted as saying.
The Telangana CM's decision came after he chaired a high-level meeting at Pragati Bhavan with Deputy CM and Education Minister Kadiyam Srihari along with other ministers like KT Rama Rao and top bureaucrats like Rajiv Sharma.
The Chief Minister said that the legislation would be passed in the current Budget session of the State Assembly.
In November last year, the state government received the sub-committee report on making Telugu a compulsory subject from Class I to Intermediate, after KCR announced his plans in September.
“After studying the mother tongue policy that has been implemented in Tamil Nadu and Punjab, we decided to implement Telugu as a compulsory subject till Class 10 for now. The course material should have content that inculcates patriotism and ethical values among the children. The government will take positive measures for a bright future of children who study Telugu as a subject,” KCR added.
The Telangana CM also insisted that at least one Telugu pandit must be appointed in every private school and instructed the Education Department to ensure the same.
In August last year, Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu advised both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to make Telugu the language of administration as well as a compulsory subject for people to get government jobs.
"I am not saying Telugu should be the medium of instruction but everybody should compulsorily study Telugu as a language and as a subject," he had said.