Although the Department of Primary and Secondary Education issued a Government Order (GO) recently stating that English-medium sections will be opened in 1,000 government schools, the final call on this will be taken by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy who holds the charge of this department.
This comes after several Kannada writers and scholars criticised the move. Recently, the former Chief Minister and chairman of the coordination committee of the coalition government, Siddaramaiah, too had objected to the government move.
Order ‘automatic’
Sources in the Chief Minister’s office said Mr. Kumaraswamy had an “open mind” and was willing to listen to the concerns of all stakeholders. “In fact, the Government Order was issued automatically as this was one of the budget promises for the 2018–19 year,” sources said.
The GO issued as early as October 26, 2018 states that English-medium sections should be opened in lower primary classes along with Kannada medium. The order states that starting English-medium classes on a pilot basis will ensure that more students will enrol in government schools.
According to the order, government schools teaching English medium in upper primary classes and the 276 Karnataka public schools (model schools) should be given preference to start English medium from classes one. English-medium sections will operate in a phased manner. While English medium should begin in class one from the 2019–20 academic year, it will continue progressively grade-wise for every academic year, the GO stated.
Placing emphasis on rural areas, the order states that sections should be started in rural areas that have high student enrolment. It directs the department to short-list teachers who are proficient in English and select them to teach in English-medium classes.
Teachers to be trained
The order also directs the department to conduct a 15-day training and urges the department to develop e-content for this training.
The government has set aside a ₹14 crore for this purpose.
Published - January 03, 2019 01:16 am IST
