Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy seeks support of stakeholders for Tulu as optional language

MANGALURU: With start of under-graduate academic year of Mangalore University a little over 10-days away, Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy is on tenterhooks. This anxiety stems from the fact that the university has permitted introduction of Tulu as an optional language for students for the first time and its success depends on number of students opting for Tulu and the academy is now making all out efforts to promote the language among students.
A C Bhandary, president of the academy, said the university has permitted teaching of Tulu as an optional language with the idea of studying the language and its culture. Thanking the university for the same, Bhandary said the university has taken steps to implement it with assistance from the academy from the coming academic year 2019-20. Heads of few colleges have already evinced interest in offering Tulu as an optional language, he said.
At this juncture, it is imperative that heads and managements of colleges under the university spread across Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Kodagu districts take requisite permission from the university and introduce Tulu in their respective colleges, he said. This will permit the students to learn in detail about their language, culture, literature in a formal academic setting, a step that will aid the promotion of the language in a big way, he said.
A syllabus committee headed by Shivaram Shetty, chairman, board of studies, department of Kannada has already framed the syllabus and prescribed the study material for the language in conjunction with lecturers. The textbooks will be supplied to students on time, Bhandary said, exhorting all those who have supported the cause of Tulu language to support this initiative by opting for study of the language in large numbers.
A M Khan, registrar (administration), Mangalore University, said colleges wanting to offer Tulu will have to indicate the same as part of their annual affiliation process. The academic council and the Syndicate have already given the requisite approval for the same, Khan said, adding around five colleges have already indicated that they will do so from the forthcoming academic year. The syllabus for the Tulu course, too, has been approved, he added.