Schools in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi are yet to get Tulu textbooks even a month after schools reopened on May 30, according to official sources.
Tulu was introduced as the third optional language for class 6 in 2010-11 and class 7 in 2011-12. It has been introduced for class 8 from this academic year.
The sources said the Department of Public Instruction had placed a demand for 12,879 textbooks for the class 6 for schools in two districts. The schools in Dakshina Kannada have placed orders for 12,331 books.
The demand placed for the class 7 books from schools in the two district stood at 13,316 (12,859 from Dakshina Kannada).
No demand
They said that there was no demand for class 8 books from Udupi district. But schools in Dakshina Kannada had placed a demand for 3,862 textbooks of class 8.
But there was no demand for eighth standard books from Belthangady and Moodbidri education blocks in Dakshina Kannada. The other five education blocks in Dakshina Kannada had placed indent for class 8 textbooks. The Block Education Officers had collected the indent for textbooks from schools, they said.
Sources said the Deputy Director of Public Instruction, Dakshina Kannada, wrote to the Managing Director of Karnataka Text Book Society, Bangalore (which prints the textbooks) on June 23, drawing the attention of the society to the indent for Tulu textbooks. It was the second reminder letter.
Chairman of Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy Umanath A. Kotian told The Hindu that he was hopeful of the society getting the books ready within 10 days.
Mr. Kotian said the academy had written to the DDPI of Dakshina Kannada on the need to distribute the textbooks at the earliest. The DDPI had forwarded it to society.
Sources said that following the initiative by the academy the State Government had issued an order on March 26, 2010 for introducing Tulu in schools. Teaching Tulu in schools was one of the eligibilities required for including Tulu in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
A letter by the Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy to the Union Home Minister five years ago records that Tulu was the first offshoot of South Indian Dravidian language family about 2,000 years ago.
In the letter of February 3, 2006, the then president of the academy M.K. Sitharam Kulal wrote that Tuluvas were mentioned in Tamil Sangam literature of second century A.D.
A Greek drama of second century B.C. known as Charition records Tulu words spoken by local characters of coastal Karnataka, it said.
The letter was in connection with demand for inclusion of Tulu in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
