E-Paper
Marathi teachers’ appointment to Kannada schools sparks row
Kannada organisations in Belagavi have raised concerns over Maharashtra’s recent appointments of Marathi-trained teachers to Kannada medium schools in southern Maharashtra.
Kannada organisations in Belagavi have raised concerns over Maharashtra’s recent appointments of Marathi-trained teachers to Kannada medium schools in southern Maharashtra.
The organisations have urged the Karnataka state government to intervene and coordinate with Maharashtra to address this issue and safeguard the interests of Kannada-speaking students.
The Kannada Organisations’ Action Committee has brought this matter to the attention of chief minister Siddaramaiah and education minister Madhu Bangarappa, urging them to ensure that teachers trained in Kannada are appointed to Kannada medium schools.
“Maharashtra has recently appointed 20 teachers trained in Marathi medium to 20 Kannada schools in southern Maharashtra, which is completely unacceptable and it threatens our language in that region,” said committee convener Ashok Chandaragi.
He highlighted that the population of Kannadigas in Sangli and Solapur districts exceeds 25% of the total population. Despite this demographic, only 4 out of 24 Kannada medium schools in these districts have Kannada-speaking teachers, while the rest have teachers trained in Marathi. “This move by Maharashtra to appoint Marathi-trained teachers seems like a concerted effort to gradually phase out Kannada medium education and impose Marathi on our people,” Chandaragi added.
He further said that there are hundreds of unemployed Kannada teachers available in Maharashtra who could be appointed to these schools instead. “The Karnataka government needs to act swiftly and engage with its Maharashtra counterpart to rectify this situation,” Chandaragi urged.
Vikramsinh Sawant, the MLA from Jat constituency in Sangli district, had previously raised concerns about this issue with the Karnataka chief minister and education minister, but he didn’t receive a satisfactory response. Chandaragi also pointed out that neighbouring states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Goa, and Telangana are also undermining Kannada medium education, forcing Kannada students to learn in other languages.
Chandaragi cited the example of four Kannada high schools in Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh, which shifted to CBSE syllabus in 2021, thereby making Kannada-speaking students study in English and Hindi instead of their native language. “The neglect of Kannada medium education by other states and the lack of proactive measures by the Karnataka government have led to this situation,” he said.
The Border Area Development Authority, under the guidance of former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, had previously submitted a report recommending 5% reservation in education and employment for students educated in Kannada medium. However, the implementation of these recommendations has been delayed due to changes in government.
Responding to queries about the government’s actions, Chandaragi referred to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s assurance that a letter had been sent to Maharashtra regarding this matter five months ago. He stressed that Maharashtra should reciprocate by giving equal importance to Kannada in Marathi medium schools in Karnataka.
