Kannada Development Authority chairman L. Hanumanthaiah has expressed concern over the difficulties faced by Kannada medium students in the border areas and stressed the need of addressing these issues on a priority basis. He was delivering the keynote address at a function organised to present cash awards to meritorious Kannada medium students, here on Sunday.
Mr. Hanumanthaiah said that the future of students who were studying in Kannada medium schools outside the State in the border areas looked bleak as they had little opportunities to take up higher education in their mother tongue in those States. He held that 5 per cent reservation in education given to Kannada medium students outside the State was insufficient.
“Kannada language is facing a threat in the State borders. The 5 percent reservation given by the Karnataka government to those who have studied in Kannada medium outside the State is insufficient and the government is not in a position to increase it as Supreme Court has capped the upper limit of total reservation at 50 per cent. We have sent a proposal to the government for allocating 5 per cent reservation to them in employment as well and we hope it would be materialised soon,” he said.
Terming the Supreme Court judgement on the medium of instruction as a fatal blow to indigenous languages, Mr. Hanumanthaiah said that it would facilitate fast disappearance of rich local languages. He told Kannada medium students and their parents to be proud of their decision to protect and promote Kannada. Mr. Hanumanthaiah held that the best medium of instruction for primary students was in their mother tongue.
“If you take the top 10 economically developed countries in the world, you will find none of them have imparted primary education to their children in a foreign language. There, the medium of instruction is the mother tongue,” he said. Writer Basvaraj Sabarad demanded that the government offer 50 percent reservation within the reservation already allocated to different backward classes to Kannada medium students.
As many as 344 meritorious students from Bidar, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal and Ballari were presented cash rewards.
Deputy Director of Public Instruction Ramanjaneya, Kannada Sahitya Parishat district president Mahantesh Maski, Block Education Officer Ramachandrappa Shivangi, and Assistant Director of Kannada and Culture Nijalingappa were present.
