Hyderabad: If the Central government has its way, students from Kendriya Vidyalayas and CBSE- affiliated schools might be left with no option but to study Hindi compulsorily till Class 10. This rule will be applicable across India including Telangana.
A proposal to this effect was made by a parliamentary panel and it was approved by President Pranab Mukherjee.
He instructed human resource development ministry to form a policy in consultation with the state governments to make Hindi compulsory.
As a first step, Hindi should be made a compulsory subject up to Class 10 in all schools affiliated to CBSE and are run by Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan. The recommendations were made in the ninth report of the Committee of Parliament on Official Language.
Once the rule was enforced, if students studying CBSE schools in TS or AP select Telugu for regional language, they will have to mandatorily opt for Hindi instead of Sanskrit or a foreign language from Class 6 to Class 10.
Earlier, students had an option of choosing betw-een Hindi, Sanskrit or any other language as the third language from Class 6 to Class 8.
According to Vasudha Ashok, the principal of Panineeya Mahavidyala Public School at Dilsuk-hnagar, some of the students used to prefer Sanskrit for three years and reverting back to regional language and English from Class 9.”
The situation in Kendriya Vidyalayas, however, is a bit different as their students do not have the option of studying any regional language. They just have English as the first language and Hindi as the second language from Class 1 to 5. From Class 6 to 8, they will have Sanskrit as third language. From Class 9, students could choose between Hindi or Sansk-rit as the second language. After the proposed changes, KV students wo-uld have to study English and Hindi compulsorily in Class 9 and 10.
While the Central Board recommended a three-language formula — English and any two Indian languages — to be expanded to Classes IX and X, the HRD ministry is yet to take a call on the suggestion.
Hindi not at the cost of Telugu: Experts
Experts on Wednesday said that there was no harm if students are made to learn Hindi, but they insisted it should not be at the cost of regional languages.
DAV Regional Director Seetha Kiran said that the government’s decision to make Hindi compulsory would not make much of a difference to Telangana, where preference for Hindi is comparatively higher compared to other southern states.
“In most CBSE schools, there are three to four sections with Hindi as the second language, while students selecting Telugu language do not cross more than a section in each class,” she said.
Telugu University vice-chancellor Prof. S.V. Sat-yanarayana said there was no harm if the Centre seeks to promote Hindi. “Learning English and Hindi languages are a must in present times. One cannot simply oppose the decision. However, the implementation should not come at the cost of regional language,” he said.
Academic Anjali Razdan, principal with decades of teaching experience, said that government can promote any language, but it should not impose its decision on states.
Meanwhile, Devulapalli Prabhakar, the chairman of Official Language Commission, Telangana said that they will convey their feelings. “We will try to see that interests of Telugu are protected because it is the official language of Telangana,” he said
