Board officials later clarified that the circular aimed only to gauge student interest in Sanskrit so that faculty appointments could be made accordingly.
Hyderabad:To introduce Sanskrit as an optional second language in government junior colleges, the Telangana Board of Intermediate Education (TBIE) issued a circular in late March, asking principals and district intermediate education officers to send proposals.
However, the move was met with strong resistance from lecturer associations and student bodies, who argued that it would harm the propagation of Telugu in the state. In response, several associations submitted a representation to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, demanding withdrawal of the circular.
Board officials later clarified that the circular aimed only to gauge student interest in Sanskrit so that faculty appointments could be made accordingly. They said the directive followed government instructions to explore various second-language options for intermediate students.
Even after the academic year began, the board did not receive proposals reflecting interest in Sanskrit. Of the 430 government junior colleges in Telangana, only a few in Hyderabad currently offer Sanskrit and have appointed faculty for the subject.
A senior lecturer from a government college explained, “Most of these colleges are in remote areas where students prefer Telugu as their second language. They are more comfortable with it and have little familiarity with Sanskrit.”
“In a class of 100 students, around 90 choose Telugu, nine pick Hindi and only one opts for Sanskrit. In such cases, it becomes impractical to appoint a lecturer for a single student. The student is usually asked to study independently, with material provided,” he added.
