Karnataka promises more talks over English from Class I

Primary and secondary education minister Ramalinga Reddy says the matter is before the Cabinet which will decide after taking the views of all concerned. He has also promised introduction of Kannada in all English-medium schools as a counter measure. The caution seems justified considering the angry debates over the issue.

On one side are activists fighting for a pride of place for Kannada, who say English will flatten the local language and leave little local culture in its wake.

They cite the example of

Bangalore where a mere 32 per cent people talk in Kannada — that too mostly in government departments.

“In villages where parents cannot read or write in Kannada, how can they teach children a new language? It’s different in the cities. When Kannada itself is being poorly imparted, English will be a burden,’’ says former Kannada Sahitya Parishat and the head of the Kannada Development Authority, G. Narayana.

“Let them build infrastructure — schools, teachers — and then introduce English,’’ he adds.

On the opposite side are Dalit and farmer leaders, a few Kannada writers, and politicians. They say learning English early will help the students leverage globalisation.

They argue that while over 25 lakh children in 5,000 English medium-schools, mostly in urban areas, get a handle on the language as early as the age of three, 30 lakh students in government schools get a taste of it only at 10.

“This is an era of globalisation. Early introduction of English opens doors to higher education and enables greater mobility,’’ MLA and farmer leader Puttanaiah said in a debate in the Assembly on July 8.

“When you make English and Kannada compulsory, the students have no choice but to learn both. There is no question of

one overtaking the other. Life is about learning and English will help rural children get a global vision, better jobs and help them compete with students from private schools,’’ says the Vice-Chancellor of the Bangalore University, M.S. Thimappa.

The police too agree. The city’s largely government school-educated police constabulary is in the midst of an exercise to learn to speak better English.