Modi ignored letters on mother tongue, says Siddu

BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah expressed his unhappiness at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not responding to his letters demanding a constitutional amendment for the implementation of education in the mother tongue.The CM was addressing the gathering at Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in the city during Karnataka Rajyotsava celebrations organised by the Department of Primary and Secondary Education on Wednesday.

He said he has written two letters requesting the Prime Minister to organise a meeting of chief ministers of all states to discuss the amendment. “There has been no response from the Prime Minister for two of my letters and I will soon write a third one and urge for an amendment. My demand was to bring in an amendment to the Constitution to allow each state to provide education in the language of that state and that language should be the medium of instruction,” said Siddaramaiah.He added that his letters were based on his discussions with experts from various fields including intellectuals, educationists and legal experts on the hurdles in making the regional language the medium of instruction.

Speaking about several private schools affiliated to other boards refusing to teach Kannada as a subject from primary level, Siddaramaiah said, “There is no excuse and schools across all the boards must follow the government order on teaching Kannada from Class 1.”“There were recent reports where a private school was penalising kids who were speaking in Kannada. The government will not tolerate such attitude and legal action will be initiated against such schools. It is not that I hate other languages, but I respect my mother tongue,” warned the CM.

Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah said the government will strengthen government schools. “There were reports about the government shutting down government schools, but I assure you that no government school will be shut,” he said.“I studied in a Kannada school and today I am the chief minister. It is not that you can achieve greatness if you study only at English schools. When it comes to medical and engineering education, parents prefer to send their children to government colleges. Why don’t they do the same during primary education?” he asked.

Chappaale Namana
Over 10,000 students from schools across Bengaluru took part in cultural activities during the programme. The main attraction was ‘Chappale Namana’ (a clap tribute)  to achievers in various fields in the state offered by over 600 students from schools located in Bengaluru South zone -2.

Stray dog creates a flutter
A stray dog entered the stadium when some students were performing a group dance. Police and education department officials managed to chase the dog out after a few minutes. This happened when the CM and other dignitaries were watching the students’ performance.

Website launched
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday launched a dedicated site to teach Kannada to non-Kannadigas. The Department of Public Instruction has developed  “Kannada Sourabha e-kalike”, which can be accessed through its www.schooleducation.kar.nic.in from Thursday. The website has been designed by Baguru Markandeya, a fine arts teacher of a government high school.

School forced to shut
Though Karnataka Rajyotsava has been declared as a public holiday, a private school in JP Nagar was found functioning by some Kannada activists. They barged into the premises and forced the management to send the kids home.