The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Schools approach court for relief on medium of instruction

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Saturday, Jul 12, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Schools approach court for relief on medium of instruction

B.S. Ramesh

They want the benefit of the Full Bench judgment passed on to them
Court quashes sections making Kannada the medium of instruction

BANGALORE: Private and unaided schools in the State have now started availing themselves of the benefit of the July 2 Karnataka High Court order on the medium of instruction.

The schools have started approaching the High Court against the rejection of their proposal by the jurisdictional Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) to start English medium schools.

Scores of schools had sought permission from the DDPI to start schools with English as the medium of instruction. The DDPIs had rejected the proposal, saying that it violated the 1994 language policy of the State. The Education Department had told the institutions that they would have to adhere to the State policy and ensure that children from the first to fourth standard study in Kannada or their mother tongue as the medium of instruction

With the Full Bench of the High Court quashing Sections 2, 3, 6 and 8 of the 1994 policy making Kannada or the mother tongue the compulsory medium of instruction and holding the threat of derecognition in case the schools failed to fall in line.

Cracking the whip

Hundreds of schools had violated the undertaking they had given to the State at the time of starting their institution. These schools had promised to teach in the medium of instruction (not English) in which they had been permitted to open. When hundreds of schools violated this undertaking and started teaching in English as the medium of instruction, the Government decided to crack the whip. In 2007, it came up with a voluntary scheme under which such schools would once again give an undertaking to abide by the State policy and also pay a fine.

Schools that opted for the voluntary scheme would be permitted to teach students of 2nd, 3rd and 4th standard in English. However, students admitted anew would have to be taught in Kannada. When the Government made it clear that it would derecognise schools that violated the State policy on medium of instruction, a few hundred schools opted for scheme. Hundreds of other schools, most of them under the banner of the Karnataka Unaided Schools Management Association (KUSMA) moved the High Court against the scheme. The court not only upheld the scheme but also directed the schools to file an affidavit undertaking to teach in the medium in which they had been permitted to operate. Hundreds of schools had no option but to either opt for the scheme or file an affidavit.

Now with the High Court quashing the compulsory clause in the State policy on medium of instruction, many schools have started approaching the High Court for relief. These schools are now asking that the benefit of the Full Bench judgment be passed on to them. The State is saying that the schools cannot in the middle of the academic year change the medium of instruction.

Justice B.V. Nagaratna, who on Friday heard petitions by more than ten schools, directed the State to consider their applications for starting English medium schools from 2009-10 onwards. More importantly, the Judge asked the State to consider the applications under the umbrella of the Full Bench judgment.

In the next few days, more schools are expected to approach the High Court seeking application of the Full bench judgment in their case too. Since the Full Bench judgment is binding on not only the single judge but even the Division Bench, schools expect similar orders in their case too.

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Karnataka