Telangana government: Penal action if schools fail to make Telugu a compulsory subject

HYDERABAD: The State government has warned that it will take penal action, including cancellation of the recognition of the  educational institution concerned, if any school fails to implement the new rule of compulsory teaching of Telugu as a subject from Class 1 to Class X as per the Telangana (Compulsory Teaching and Learning of Telugu in Schools) Act, 2018, which has been passed recently.

If a private school does not implement the rule of compulsory teaching of Telugu, the management will be given notice to explain the reasons in the first place.

On receipt of reply, if it is established after due enquiry that there are violations of the Act, the authority will give an opportunity to the management to rectify the violation and introduce teaching of Telugu within one month. After the specified period, if the violation is not rectified, a penalty of `50,000 will be imposed, treating it as a first contravention.

If the management commits the second contravention, authorities will impose a fine of additional `1 lakh.
“If the said violations still continue and recur, the competent authority will withdraw the recognition of the school,” Ranjeev R Acharya, special chief secretary   (education), has said.
An order issued recently in this regard recalled that the Telangana (Compulsory Teaching and Learning of Telugu in Schools) Act, 2018 was enacted recently and it would be in force from the current academic year.

The goal of the Act is to teach the child two or three languages, with Telugu being compulsory, at the primary level (I to V Classes) and three languages, with Telugu being compulsory, at the upper primary and secondary levels (VI to X Classes) in all the schools of all mediums of instruction and under all managements irrespective of their affiliations.

The government also made it clear that every school should appoint eligible teachers to teach Telugu to students of classes from primary to secondary school.

With regard to curriculum and textbooks, SCERT is the academic authority and it will lay down the curriculum and evaluation procedure at elementary level. SCERT will prepare Telugu language textbooks to be introduced in English medium (other than state syllabus) and ‘other’ medium primary/upper primary schools, where Telugu is to be newly-introduced from Class-I and Class VI from 2018-19.
Further, Telugu is the third-most spoken language in the country and is included in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.