It's a redux: Kerala again hires Malayali teachers for Kannada medium schools

Students don't know Malayalam while the teachers don't know Kannada. Despite massive outcry in the past, the Kerala government has gone back to its older order.

The Kerala government had to face severe opposition three years ago for appointing Malayali Teachers to Kannada medium schools in Kasaragod district. Now the same thing is happening again. The government, which had changed its stance after the protest by Kannada language frontier organizations, has now begun the process of recruiting Malayalam language teachers for Kannada medium schools.

Representational Image (Source unplash.com)

Three years ago, out of the 23 teachers selected for the Kerala Public Service Commission (KPSC 2014 batch), 8 Malayali teachers were appointed to Kannada medium schools. These teachers had to teach students in Kannada medium but had no understanding of the language, nor did students have Malayalam Literature as a subject. The issue has triggered massive outcry between the two states.

At that time, Malayalam-speaking teachers were assigned to Mangalpady, Udma, Kunjathur, Paivalike and Badiyadka schools in Kasaragod district. The frontier Kannada language organizations moved the Kerala High Court, forcing the Kerala government to send the teachers to learn Kannada at Mysore's regional language centre.

The second phase of the recruitment of teachers who had passed the Kerala Public Service Commission examination in 2014 is now underway. Even this time, Malayali teachers are appointed for Kannada medium schools. Accordingly, for a Kannada medium high school near Seethangoli, a Malayalam Science teacher from Kottayam has been appointed. His appointment was ordered on February 28. He does not know Kannada and students do not know Malayalam. This appointment is causing severe anxiety among parents of schoolchildren.

In 2014, the Kerala High Court had ordered the appointment of Kannada medium teachers considering Kasaragod has constitutional linguistic minority status. But what is being implemented now is a pre-2014 selection process.