Devanik Saha| The News Minute| February 23, 2015| 11.50 am IST
In a recent move, the Karnataka government, in a bid to make Kannada the compulsory medium of instruction till Class 5, has planned to introduce a legislative bill in the assembly to amend the relevant RTE rule.
The Section 29(2)(f) of the RTE Act, states that, "medium of instructions shall, as far as practicable, be in the child's mother tongue." The state plans to replace the words "as far as practicable, be in child's mother tongue", by “Kannada”
The state government took the decision after a 2014 Supreme Court decision that quashed Karnataka’s proposed policy that Kannada should be the compulsory medium of instruction in primary schools. The court explicitly stated that the right of parents to choose the medium of instruction is protected under Article 19(1)(A).
In 2008, Karnataka High Court had stated that “Right to education is a fundamental right being a species of right to life flowing from Article 21 of the Constitution. The right to choose a medium of instruction is implicit in the right to education. It is a fundamental right of the parent and the child to choose the medium of instruction even in primary schools”. It further added that under Article 19 (1)(g), “Imparting education is an occupation and, therefore, the right to carry on any occupation includes the right to establish and administer an educational institution of one's choice. 'One's choice' includes the choice of medium of instruction”
Even though bill has been put forward in the assembly, it is likely to be quashed again by the courts. G Nagasimha Rao, an RTE activist in Karnataka says, “Schools in Karnataka are forcing students to speak in English. Most of these students come from low income backgrounds and only speak in Kannada. How can one expect them to speak in English from day one?” Nagasimha told The News Minute.
He believes that learning English is important but teaching in classrooms must be done in Kannada.
“The education department is only concerned with rigid laws and regulations, but they aren’t giving any thought for the students who are really struggling with just English as a medium of instruction” he added.
Rao believes that a consultation should be done with the teachers as well as the students, but not with parents as they are always prejudiced with the opinion that English is the best medium of instruction.
When asked “Given the 2014 SC judgment, will not the proposed assembly bill be again quashed by courts?” Rao said “A lot of pressure is being put by Kannada Unions and groups who are fighting to save the language. Hence courts might see the noble motive behind it and allow Karnataka to carry on with its proposed plan”. He also said the fervor behind the objective can be gauged by the fact that Karnataka government has been relentlessly pursuing it even after the SC judgment, which it found unacceptable.
Whether Karnataka will succeed in its endeavor remains to be seen, but evidently, their proposal has many dedicated supporters.