Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has reiterated the need for a uniform education system to ensure equality and uplift of students from economically weaker sections of society.
He was here on Saturday to present cash awards to students in Kannada medium schools in Bangalore and Mysore divisions who passed Class 10 and PU exams with distinction.
Mr. Siddaramaiah said students from the lower strata of society had been suffering because of the caste system and they should not be discriminated against in the name of English-medium education.
Recalling the days when he was the chairman of the first Kannada Watchdog Committee set up by the then Ramakrishna Hegde government in 1983, Mr. Siddaramaiah said worthwhile development was not possible unless children were taught in their mother tongue or regional language.
Mr. Siddaramaiah said there was disparity in development between those studying in English-medium schools and others and a uniform education system for government and private schools would eradicate it. He said he had scored a first class in Class 10 in Kannada medium, but slipped to second class in PU because he had to study in English. H. Mahima of Viveka Girls High School at Kota in Udupi district received a cash award for scoring 99 per cent marks in the SSLC exam. Daughter of a hotelier in Kota, Mahima wants to take up medicine.