Bengaluru, Nov 1 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday urged the Central government to enact suitable laws to ensure that education is imparted in the mother tongue, even as he announced that 900 Kannada-medium Urdu-medium schools would be developed into Karnataka Public Schools (KPS) and teaching of Kannada in madrasas would be prioritised.

Addressing the state during the 70th Kannada Rajyotsava celebration organised by the Department of School Education and Literacy, the Chief Minister stated that the government is committed to preparing the Kannada language to meet new technological challenges to prevent job loss caused by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

“The government is determined to make Kannada a language of modern technology. I urge scholars and technical experts to contribute to this cause,” he said.

The Chief Minister said that 800 Kannada schools and 100 Urdu schools are being developed into KPS institutions, and Kannada teaching is being introduced in madrasas across the state. “Since it is essential to elevate the Kannada language, culture, and heritage to the global level, the government is preparing a new policy in this regard,” he added.

He informed that the state has around 3,000 government schools that are over a century old. To strengthen school education, 800 government schools will be transformed into Karnataka Public Schools at an estimated cost of Rs 4 crore each, with a total outlay of Rs 2,500 crore.

“To integrate minority communities into the mainstream, primary-level Kannada is being taught in 180 madrasas this year. This will be expanded to 1,500 madrasas across the state. Additionally, Rs 483 crore is being spent to develop 100 Urdu schools on the KPS model,” he announced.

The CM recalled that Karnataka, formed through unification in 1956, has now completed 69 years and is stepping into its 70th year. Paying homage to the martyrs of the unification movement, he remembered Mysuru student Ramaswamy, Ballari’s Ranjan Saab, and several others, including Aluru Venkata Rao, Andanappa Doddameti, Gudleppa Hallikeri, Siddappa Kambli, R.H. Deshpande, Kaujalagi Srinivas Rao, and Kengal Hanumanthaiah.

Siddaramaiah noted that Kannada, a language with over 2,000 years of history, has been recognised as a classical language. “However, neglect of Kannada in education has led to several challenges. Children in advanced countries learn and think in their mother tongues. But in our case, languages like English and Hindi have weakened our children’s abilities. Hence, there is a need to bring a law to ensure education in the mother tongue, and the Central Government should take this seriously,” he emphasised.

–IANS

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