Bengaluru school under fire over alleged penalties on students speaking Kannada: Report

Sindhi High School in Bengaluru faces allegations of penalizing students for speaking Kannada, prompting the KDA to call for the withdrawal of its NOC.

Bengaluru’s Sindhi High School in Kumarapark, one of the city’s reputed institutions, is facing scrutiny after allegations surfaced that students were being penalised for speaking in Kannada.

The controversy came to light during a recent inspection by the Deputy Director of Public Instructions (DDPI).

The controversy came to light during a recent inspection by the Deputy Director of Public Instructions (DDPI), following complaints raised with the Kannada Development Authority (KDA), Deccan Herald reported.

KDA Chairperson Purushothama Bilimale said he was “shocked” to learn from the DDPI’s report that both students and the school principal had confirmed the practice.

Acting on the findings, Bilimale has written to Minister for School Education Madhu Bangarappa and Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh, urging the government to withdraw the no-objection certificate (NOC) granted to the school, which is affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the report further added.

“One of the top schools in the city is curtailing the rights of the freedom of expression of the students by penalising them when they speak in Kannada,” Bilimale added.

Responding to the controversy, an authority from Sindhi High School issued a statement rejecting the claims.

“It has come to our notice that certain reports have wrongly stated that our school has penalised students for speaking in Kannada. We wish to clarify that this is completely false. No student has ever been punished for using Kannada in our institution,” the statement read according to the publication.

The school maintained that disciplinary action had only been taken against students for using “vulgar and inappropriate language,” regardless of whether it was spoken in Kannada or any other language.

“Our school has always valued and encouraged Kannada, and holds the highest regard for the language. We have and remain committed to fostering cultural pride, mutual respect, and discipline among our students,” the school authority added.