The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Call to revive interest in Telugu in educational institutions

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 23, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Call to revive interest in Telugu in educational institutions

By Our Staff Reporter

VIJAYAWADA, FEB. 22. The two-day International Telugu Conference called "Mana Telugu Tejam" organised by Maris Stella College ended here on Tuesday with a call for renewed efforts to revive interest in the Telugu language and literature in educational institutions. Touching upon different aspects of Telugu literature, the speakers stressed the need for bringing out more and more publications so as to make this rich literature available to the younger generation. The noted writer, Betavolu Ramabrahmam, dwelt at length on ancient Telugu literature saying the younger generation would miss its beauty and sweetness if this was not imparted to them at school and college levels.

Ch. Hemanth Rao, a delegate from the Andamans, emphasised the importance of retaining Telugu medium at school level so that the students enjoyed the beauty of Telugu besides developing a better understanding of the subjects. An assistant manager in the Tourism Department, Mr. Rao said that in the Andamans, Telugu schools were badly hit by invasion of foreign languages, especially English. "Many primary schools are stopping instruction in Telugu medium. We are trying to create awareness in this regard," he added.

`Greater popularity'

The Principal of Andhra Loyola College, P.F. Jayabalan, who learnt Telugu after his arrival here a few years ago, spoke in detail about the charms of the language when compared to other languages in the south. "Its sweetness is the reason for the language's greater popularity in different parts of the world. I felt overjoyed at having learnt one of the sweetest languages," he said. The day began with introduction by the Sanskrit lecturer of Maris Stella, D. Ramakrishna. A programme in "Tyagaraja krutulu" by Mudumudi Sudhakar and others regaled the audience. Students of Maris Stella performed a novel lambada folk dance for over 20 minutes.

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Andhra Pradesh