4 days ago
Telugu in schools: HC demands status report
Hyderabad: The Telangana high court on Thursday directed the state govt to furnish, within two weeks, the status of implementation of the Telangana (compulsory teaching and learning of Telugu in schools) Act, 2018, which made Telugu a compulsory subject in schools across the state.
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The Act, enacted in 2018, gave all primary and high schools in the state five years to progressively implement the 'Telugu must' norm. By 2023, Telugu was to be taught as a subject in all classes from one to 10.
On Thursday, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin heard a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Pramila Pathak, a Hindi teacher from the Ramachandrapuram municipality in Medak district.
She challenged the 2018 Telugu Act on the grounds that non-Telugu-speaking students would struggle to follow the subject. She also named several private and corporate schools in Hyderabad as respondents.
'Clarify steps'
Her counsel argued that these private and corporate schools are now being directed to implement the 'Telugu must' requirement for classes 9 and 10. He described the decision as arbitrary and urged the court to restrain the authorities from imposing Telugu on these schools.
Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar asked both the private schools and state authorities to clarify what steps had been taken over the past seven years to implement the Act. Was it implemented in govt schools?
What is its current status in private schools? Why are private schools only now being asked to enforce the rule for classes 9 and 10? What has been done with regard to the other year groups?
The bench, while issuing notices to all the schools and relevant authorities, directed them to submit counter-affidavits answering all these questions within two weeks.
