More than 60 unaided schools in the district are converting to English medium beginning this academic year, following a recent verdict of Supreme Court which ruled that Kannada is not mandatory as medium of teaching in primary schools.
There are 518 unaided primary schools in district of which more than 60 schools, have got conversion to English Medium from the existing Kannada medium. In addition to this, 20 new English medium schools (15 primary and 5 middle schools) are coming up and most of these are located at the Taluk levels.
Sources in the DDPI said that more number of primary schools are expected to come with applications seeking conversion and its expected that in the coming years more than 85 per cent of the unaided Kannada Medium Primary Schools will change over to English medium.
Parents Jayamma and Basavaraju, residents of Mysuru taluk said: 'It's a good news for us. Beginning this academic year we can enroll our children to English medium. We want our children to have their basic education in a English medium school. With the rapid advances that are occurring definitely there is a need to learn English'.
Parent Chandrashekar said: 'Parents have a fundamental right to choose the medium of instruction for their children. With the SC upholding giving a verdict in our favour, we can now enroll our wards to English Medium right from primary level, which helps them to have a better future. It also increases employment opportunities.'
Mysuru District DDPI BK Basavaraj said that there will be no threat for Government Schools with increasing conversion of unaided schools to English medium. 'We have good strength as of now, and there is no threat of closure of schools nor decline in strength of students who may quit to join private schools.'
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Bring Amendment to Constitution
Kannada activists have decided to bring pressure on MPs from the State to raise voice in the floor of the House and bring necessary amendments to the constitution where parents have a fundamental right to choose the medium of instruction of their children at the primary schools under Article 19(1)(1) of the constitution.
Kannada Activists P Mallesh said: 'The order of SC is a death blow for Kannada . As everybody hankers after English language, our regional languages will become extinct soon. We have decided to hold a meeting with MPs from Karnataka through our Kriya Samithi in the coming days requesting them to raise voice to bring amendment to the constitution for the survival of mother tongue. It's the only way we can save our language. Nearly 2/3 of the Parliament members should vote for this. Already talks have been held with CM Siddaramaiah in this regard, and inturn he has return a letter to PM,' he added.
Kannada activists say that the recent developments is a threat for Kannada, which will lead to decline in the enrollment of students in government schools and this might to lead to closure of Kannada medium schools in State.
'Quite a good number of unaided English medium schools have come up in district over the years. With the order of SC, the existing Kannada schools are also heading towards conversion. This is a cause of concern which has to be addressed. There is a need to take a call to protect the Kannada language,' added Kannada activists, raising concern over the increasing demand for English medium schools.
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Facts and Figures
Government Schools: primary school – 1912; High Schools – 232.
Aided : Primary: 142; High school – 141
Unaided Schools: primary schools - 518; High School – 283
New Schools coming up: Primary 20 – High School – 3
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