After many years, Tulu and yakshagana are on the verge of getting academic patronage.
Registrar (Administration) of Mangalore University K. Chinnappa Gowda said that the university would offer a six-month certificate course in Tulu under distance education mode from the academic year 2012-13. Kannada script would be used for curriculum and Tulu would be the medium of instruction, he said.
"Syllabus and study material were now being prepared. The course would begin along with other distance education courses for the current academic year", he said. An expert committee under the chairmanship of Board of Studies of Kannada was preparing the syllabus and study material.
Mr. Gowda said that at a later stage, the university would offer diploma and postgraduate courses in Tulu. The Governor, who is the Chancellor of universities, had approved draft regulations governing these courses. Completion of SSLC would be the criteria for the six-month certificate course. The course would cover basic knowledge of Tulu and communication in Tulu. The certificate course covered 300 marks with two papers of 100 marks each and 100 marks for viva, he said.
For the one-year diploma course, candidates must have passed their pre-university. The course is for 500 marks which will include Tulu literature, folklore and culture, and communication.
Any bachelor's degree would do well for the one-year postgraduate diploma course which would also have 500 marks. The PG diploma course would have the content of certificate and diploma courses, and comparison study of Tulu with other Dravidian languages, he said.
T.C. Shivashankara Murthy, Vice-Chancellor of the university, said that as the State Government had introduced Tulu as the third optional language from class six, schools need teachers who have completed courses in Tulu. The university would introduce these courses on a request by the Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy, he said.
Yakshagana
On the other hand, Karnataka Yakshagana Bayalata Academy has initiated steps to introduce junior, senior, and vidwat examinations in Yakshagana. It will be on the lines of Bharatnatyam and classical music.
According to M.L. Samaga, president of the academy, drafts of two textbooks for junior and senior examinations were ready. The drafts had been prepared by the textbook committee of the government in association with the academy. The drafts were now under scrutiny. However, draft of textbook for vidwat examination was not ready. The committee comprised both professional performing artistes and academicians, he said.
Mr. Samaga said that there was confusion on whether the examinations should be conducted by the Karnataka State Secondary Education Examination Board (KSSEEB) or Karnataka State Dr. Gangubai Hanagal Music and Performing Arts University at Mysore. This was yet to be resolved.
He said the model of examinations would be the ones adopted for Bharatnatyam and classical music in the State. Candidates would have to learn Yakshagana in Yakshagana schools like Bharatnatyam teaching schools.
Mr. Samaga, who was the former principal of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College in Udupi, said that this was an attempt to standardise Yakshagana.
“It is an attempt to raise the status of Yakshagana on par with other accepted classical art forms,” he said.
Mr. Samaga said that Yakshagana was unique as it had discipline as well as liberty within broad classical framework.
