BENGALURU: Despite opposition from pro-Kannada activists, the state government has issued an order to introduce English as a medium of instruction at government schools from the coming academic year.

The order was issued two months ago, but was kept secret and not uploaded on any official website or public portal. The government order, dated October 30, 2018, is available with TNIE.

Following an announcement by CM HD Kumaraswamy during the budget session, the order has been issued, and the state Department of Public Instructions has started the process by appointing the director for the Department of State Education, Research and Training (DSERT) as the nodal officer for the implementation of the project. 

Financial assistance of Rs 14 crore has been allocated for this. It is mentioned in the order that in the first phase of the initiative, English education should be implemented at the Class 1 level at the select 1,000 government schools.

At model schools that are functioning from the 2017-18 academic year, it is mandatory to introduce English.  

“There is no mention about hiring new teachers. Instead, we have been asked to filter the best among the existing teachers, as there are many teachers who have done a course in regional English institutes. Screening will be done via a written test,” said a senior official from DSERT.