Telangana makes Telugu compulsory in schools across boards

The new order will be applicable from academic year 2025-26 for class 9 students. For class 10 students, it will apply from academic year 2026-27.

“This has been on the anvil since 2018 and the government has decided to implement it now,” an education department official told The Indian Express.

CSBE class 9 and 10 students will be allowed to learn “simple Telugu”, which is called Vennela, as against Standard Telugu, or Singidi, the order said.

The majority of schools in Telangana are government schools where Telugu instruction and learning is common. However, schools that come under non-state boards have largely not been teaching Telugu.

“There is a push to keep Telugu learning going for the younger generation. It was one of the recommendations made by the Telugu Classical Language committee long ago,” the education department official said.

Incidentally, Telangana’s decision to make Telugu compulsory has come at a time when neighbouring Tamil Nadu is opposing the National Education Policy on the grounds that it imposes Hindi on school students.

In Telangana, more than one-third of the schools are English-medium. “This is not a push away from English but a push towards Telugu. Students in the state should be able to read and write the local language,” an educationist said.

In 2008, undivided Andhra Pradesh, out of which Telangana was later carved out, had introduced English-medium education in government schools.