Hyderabad: The state government has decided to take the ordinance route to make Telugu compulsory for students from Class I to XII across the state from the academic year 2018-19.
The draft ordinance was referred to the law ministry for approval on Monday. All schools, including CBSE, ICSE, and IB, will be brought under the ordinance.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar had announced the government’s decision to make Telugu compulsory in all schools during the World Telugu Conference held in the city in December last.
Mr Rao initially thought of passing an Act in this regard. However, it was decided later to bring an ordinance first as the new academic year for CBSE and ICSE schools starts in March and the Budget session of the TS Legislature is expected in mid-March.
Officials pointed out that if the legislation is passed by March-end, schools will not have enough time to make the necessary arrangements for teaching Telugu. It might also invite legal challenges if schools are forced to implement the Telugu norm at the last minute.
IB schools likely to face problems
CBSE and ICSE schools in the state already offer Telugu as a subject, but IB (International Baccalaureate) schools are likely to face problems.
However, sources revealed that the draft ordinance has a provision for Telugu to be a subject in IB schools at primary-school level, but for the existing upper primary and secondary students, basic Telugu can be introduced with no exams.
“The school education department has drafted the draft ordinance and referred it to the law department for approval. Once it is passed, it will be sent to the Governor who will issue the ordinance,” official sources said.
They said they followed the legislation recently introduced by Karnataka, which made Kannada compulsory in all schools in that state. Though some schools had challenged it in the courts there, they had lost.
