Karnataka - Bangalore   

Private schools threaten to intensify campaign

Special Correspondent

Bangalore: Managements of the private schools, which have been derecognised for flouting the State's language policy, have threatened to intensify their campaign if the Government did not withdraw its order to close down schools by the end of the academic year.

Private Unaided Schools Action Committee president Venkatachaliah N. told presspersons here on Tuesday that although Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had promised to hold a meeting with them, it was postponed indefinitely. Setting January 15 as the deadline for negotiations, he said the managements, teachers and parents would then launch a series of protests from the last week of January. They plan to lay siege to the Education Department offices in all districts in the first phase of their agitation.

Criticising the Government's policy that "makes English language learning the preserve of the rich", Mr. Venkatachaliah reiterated the demand for a uniform language policy across State-syllabus schools, CBSE schools and ICSE schools. He said a committee set up by the derecognised school managements to study the fallout of the Government's decision had recommended a withdrawal of the order and a rethink on the language policy.

The Education Department derecognised 2,007 schools during the second week of September 2006 for violating the language policy of 1994, which states that the medium of instruction should be either Kannada or the mother tongue. These schools had given an undertaking to the department to abide by the policy, but were found to be running classes in English medium.

The issue of derecognition is expected to come up before the Cabinet and the managements of affected schools are hopeful of a decision in their favour "considering that lakhs of students would be affected".

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