The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : No clarity on medium of instruction in schools

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Sunday, Dec 28, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

No clarity on medium of instruction in schools

Bageshree S.

Government likely to take a decision

Bangalore: Hundreds of applications from school managements seeking permission to start classes in English medium from the next academic year are in a state of limbo in Education Department, although the High Court’s verdict on the language policy earlier this year cleared the hurdles for granting a go-ahead.

The applications were submitted following the High Court order of July 2 which said that that the Government could not compel unaided and private schools to follow its policy on medium of instruction.’

The High Court asked schools to submit fresh applications seeking permission to teach in English from the next academic year.

The State Government has not been able to get a stay from the Supreme Court on the Full Bench order.

This technically means that private schools cannot be denied permission to teach in English medium from the next academic year. But there is as yet no Government Order that modifies the old policy and puts in place new procedures to be followed, resulting in applications not being processed.

This means that a series of controversies and legal battles that began in 2006 with the Government’s decision to close down schools that were running English-medium classes on the sly although they had permission only to run Kannada-medium classes are not resolved even as 2008 comes to a close.

S. Paul Raj, an office-bearer of Karnataka Unaided Schools Managements Association (KUSMA), said Deputy Directors of Public Instruction had accepted applications and kept them in abeyance in most places. There had been stray instances of applications being rejected in some cities.

N. Venkatachaliah, who runs Nayana Vidya Niketana Patha Shala in Kengeri, submitted his application in the last week of September, but had no official communication from the department so far.

The application of S.N. Ashwath Narayan, who runs Sri Sharada Vidyalaya at Amrita Nagar, was rejected by the DDPI on the ground that there was “no direction” from the Government.

“Many parents are making inquiries asking if we will be teaching in English medium. Even without any clear indication from the department, we are assuring them that we will be teaching in English, ” said Mr. Raj.

Sources in the Education Department said that a meeting with the Education Minister would be held soon and a decision taken within 10 days.

The Minister being busy with the byelection-related work was cited as one of the reasons for the delay in taking a decision.

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