CBSE school principals in Bengaluru discuss migrant students' struggles with Kannada

Bengaluru: Principals of several CBSE schools in the city on Saturday highlighted the difficulties in Kannada learning faced by migrant students and sought the state government's intervention. 

Speaking at the Guru Samman Awards 2024 here, principals of at least five CBSE schools in Bengaluru said that students from other states, especially the children of servicemen, settled in Karnataka found it "difficult" to acquire proficiency in Kannada. 

Karnataka has made Kannada teaching mandatory in all schools in the state, irrespective of their board of affiliation. 

Ritesh Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, acknowledged the principals' concerns but stressed the importance of learning Kannada in Karnataka's cultural context. "I understand how traumatic it (the Kannada subject) can be for a student who is going to be appearing for the board exams," he stated. 

Singh added that Karnataka was not the first to mandate the teaching of the local language. Tamil Nadu and Kerala have done it, too. "We are working on the state education policies that will be progressive and positive." 

However, he suggested finding other ways of evaluating migrant students' proficiency in Kannada. 

Singh also spoke about the state government's efforts to promote school attendance among children. He emphasized the role of teachers, saying they can have a positive or negative impact on the mind of a child.

The award ceremony was organised by the Bangalore Sahodaya Schools' Complex Association, an association of city schools that offer CBSE as a teaching curriculum. 

The association gave 243 awards in four categories: School Crusaders (eight principals), Champion Educators (125 scholastic teachers), Activity Warriors (55 co-scholastic teachers [yoga, dance and music]), and Operation Stars (55 administrative staff).