Bangalore: Asserting that the Karnataka government is firm in its decision to derecognise 2,111 primary schools for violating the state's language policy, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Basavaraj Horatti on Saturday said the 2,73,840 affected students will be admitted to Kannada medium schools by October 10.
Talking to reporters, he said that in a meeting of department officials, headed by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Saturday, the Chief Minister had asked the department to file criminal cases against the erring private management schools.
A 1994 government order makes it compulsory for all government-recognised schools to use only Kannada as the medium of instruction till fifth standard.
That year, the government allowed the opening of more than 6,000 schools on the condition that the medium of teaching should be the local Kannada language up to the primary level.
"Most of the schools were blatantly flouting the government policy by using English as a medium of instruction," said an education department official, who requested anonymity.
The Minister said these schools had taken licenses for opening Kannada medium schools, but had violated the education rules by subsequently switching to English medium.
Meanwhile, parents, teachers and school authorities are questioning the government's actions.
They want to know what was the government doing for the last 12 years (since 1994 when the order was passed) and if the schools are being penalised, then why are the officials who permitted this violation being let off?
Parents and teachers also say the language policy is discriminatory, as it allows schools given government permits before 1994 to teach in English. Educationists say the policy should be clear and English can’t be ignored.
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