Karnataka’s Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Tanveer Sait said, starting this academic year, students will be taught Kannada in all schools in the State, including private, linguistic minority and Central board schools. The Minister, who made the announcement on Thursday, said children would start learning the subject from class one.
A circular to this effect was issued already. Strict action, including withdrawal of the no-objection certificate (NOC) issued by the Department of Primary and Secondary Education, would be initiated in case of non-compliance, Sait said.
Textbooks for the subject are ready and printing has been completed. Digitised versions of Kannada textbooks will be made available online.
The Government of Karnataka will soon issue a notification on recruitment of teachers. Of the 10,000 teachers, around 5,400 will be posted to government schools in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, said the Minister.
At a press conference here, Sait noted that though the total number of sanctioned posts in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region was 6,826, there were 5,400 posts vacant. The department has been relying on guest teachers here.
“The Department of Finance has given us the approval, and the notification will be issued on July 20. We are also contemplating providing incentives to those who choose to work in schools in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region and in rural areas across the State. However, we will wait until the 7th Pay Commission is implemented with regard to giving the incentive,” he said.