Lok Sabha Question No. 9 (STARRED), answered on 2024-11-25
Subject: Promotion of Kannada  Language  in Schools
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Dr. K Sudhakar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO - 9

ANSWERED ON 25 th  NOVEMBER, 2024

## Promotion of Kannada Language in Schools

## *9. DR. K. SUDHAKAR:

Will the Minister of Education be pleased to state:

- (a)  the steps taken by the Government to promote Kannada in schools and higher education levels across the country;
- (b)  the details of students enrolled for the study of Kannada language in secondary and higher secondary level schools across different States of the country;
- (c)    whether  the  Government  has  any  plan  to  open  new  Navodaya  schools,  Eklavya  Model Residendial Schools, Kendriya Vidyalayas in Chikkaballapur Lok Sabha Constituency, if so, the details thereof;
- (d)   if not, the reasons therefor;
- (e)  the details and the number of children from Chikkaballapur Lok Sabha Constituency who have been granted scholarships under various Schemes of the Government; and
- (f)   whether any fund has been allotted for promoting indigenous languages or learning in the mother-tongue across the country, if so, the details of the initiatives taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

- (a) to (f): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (f) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 9 ANSWERED ON 25 th  NOVEMBER, 2024 ASKED BY HON'BLE  MP  DR.  K.  SUDHAKAR  REGARDING  PROMOTION  OF  KANNADA LANGUAGE IN SCHOOLS

(a): The National Education Policy, 2020 lays emphasis on promoting multilingualism and making efforts to keep Indian languages including Kannada vibrant. Chapter 4 of NEP 2020, 'Promotion of Indian Languages, Arts, and Culture' lays down a number of initiatives to foster languages,  arts,  and  culture  in  school  children,  early  implementation  of  the  three-language formula to promote multilingualism; teaching in the home/local language wherever possible; conducting more experiential language learning etc.

NEP 2020 emphasizes that wherever possible, the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, is to be the home language/mother tongue/local language/regional language. Thereafter, the home/local language shall continue to be taught as a language wherever possible. This will be followed by both public and private schools. Highquality textbooks, including in science, will be made available in home languages/mother tongue. All efforts will be made early on to ensure that any gaps that exist between the language spoken by the child and the medium of teaching are bridged. In cases where textbook material in home language/mother  tongue  is  not  available,  the  language  of  transaction  between  teachers  and students will still remain the home language/mother tongue wherever possible.

In keeping with this recommendation of the NEP 2020, 79 Indian Language Primers have been released with a focus on enabling young learners and adults to access education in their mother tongue, including in Kodava and Tulu language of Karnataka. Further, Primer in Kannada stands prepared. Additionally, funds are provided to States and UTs under the Samagra Shiksha scheme for promotion of mother tongue/local languages through interventions such as Teaching Learning Materials under NIPUN Bharat Mission and Innovation head for State Specific Projects for  improvement  of  Quality  and  access  of  Education.  In  addition, 5  PM  e-Vidya  DTH  TV Channels  have  been  allocated  to  Karnataka,  to  offer  high  quality  education  content  in Kannada/local regional languages.

Further, the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE), 2023 lays emphasis on promoting multilingualism and proficiency in local languages keeping in view the social  linguistic  diversity  and  how  the  social  multilingualism  enables  children  in  school  to develop  multilingual  proficiency  beginning  their  schooling  in  their  mother  tongue  /  home language / local language and move on to add many more languages i.e. mother tongue-based multilingualism. NEP 2020 also envisages that more Higher Educational Institutions(HEIs), and more programmes in higher education, will use the mother tongue/local language as a medium of instruction, and/or offer programmes bilingually, in order to increase access and GER and also to promote the strength, usage, and vibrancy of all Indian languages including Kannada. The policy further provides encouragement and incentivization of Indian languages as medium of instruction/offer of bilingual programmes. Government  of  India  has  declared  Kannada  as  a  classical  language  in  2008.  Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysuru, works for promotion of all languages including Kannada  language.  Southern  Regional  Language  Centre,  Mysuru,  CIIL,  offers  a  10-month 'Diploma in Language Education' in Kannada as a second language to school teachers. Govt of India has established Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Kannada under CIIL.  This center  promotes,  propagates  and  preserves  the  classical  Kannada  language.  The  center  has organized  training  programme  to  the  high  school  teachers  for  promoting  Classical  Kannada language. The Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (Diksha) portal: DIKSHA (https://diksha.gov.in/) an initiative of the Ministry of Education for digital online education, has QR  coded  textbooks  and  specialized  e-content  available  in  38  Indian  languages  including Kannada. Rashtriya e-Pustakalaya is a free digital library and serves as a national repository of knowledge and stories, tailored specifically for the young minds of India. It provides access to over 1,000 non-academic titles from more than 40 esteemed publishers, available in over 22 languages, including Kannada. Moreover, as informed by the Govt. of Karnataka, all students in government and private schools in Karnataka are required to study Kannada as a compulsory subject, either as their 1st or 2nd language, regardless of their mother tongue or background. This requirement extends to students from other states and migrants. In state government schools, Kannada is mandated as the medium of instruction for primary education. Private schools have the flexibility to choose English or another language as the medium of instruction, but Kannada must still be taught as a

subject.

- (b): As per UDISE+ 2021-22, total number of students enrolled in the schools teaching in Kannada medium at secondary and higher Secondary level, state-wise is as follows:

| State Name     |   Secondary |   Higher Secondary |   Total Enrolment |
|----------------|-------------|--------------------|-------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh |        2757 |                  0 |              2757 |
| Goa            |         196 |                  0 |               196 |
| Karnataka      |     1246870 |             656132 |           1903002 |
| Kerala         |        7069 |               6242 |             13311 |
| Maharashtra    |        5437 |               3795 |              9232 |
| Tamil Nādu     |        1273 |               1491 |              2764 |
| Telangana      |         279 |                  0 |               279 |

As  per  the  information  received  from  the  State  Govt.  of  Karnataka,  the  Details  of  Students enrolled in the study of Kannada at Secondary level in Karnataka State is as follows:

| Management              |   Total no of students |   Kannada as first language |   Kannada as second language |   Kannada as Third language |
|-------------------------|------------------------|-----------------------------|------------------------------|-----------------------------|
| Department of Education |                 828917 |                      827687 |                         1093 |                         137 |
| Pvt. Aided              |                 543787 |                      540633 |                          879 |                        2275 |
| Pvt. Unaided            |                 145336 |                      145011 |                          203 |                         122 |
| Other                   |                   5463 |                        5463 |                            0 |                           0 |
| Total                   |                1523503 |                     1518794 |                         2175 |                        2534 |

(c) & (d) : Opening of new Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) is a continuous process. The proposals are subject to approval of the competent authority as per extant procedures. At present, 4 KVs namely (i) KV AFS Yelahanaka, (ii) KV CRPF Yelahanka (iii) KV RWF Yelahanka and (iv) KV Gauribidnur are functioning in the Chikkaballapur Lok Sabha Constituency. No proposal has been received so far from the State Government of Karnataka/District Administration for opening of a new KV in the Chikkaballapur Lok Sabha Constituency. Further, KVs are not opened on the basis of Parliamentary Constituency.

Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme envisages opening of one Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in each district of the country. 03 districts i.e. Chikkaballapur, Bengaluru Urban & Bengaluru Rural fall under the Chikkaballapur Lok Sabha Constituency. One JNV in each of these districts is functional. Therefore, opening of new / additional JNV in any of these districts is not feasible as per the Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme.

Eklavya Model Residential Schools : Ministry of Tribal Affairs has set the target to set up total of 728 EMRSs benefitting around 3.5 lakh ST students across the country including State of Karnataka. At present, Karnataka has 12 EMRSs and all are reported to be functional. There is no proposal for establishment of new EMRS in Chikkaballapur.

- (e): Under central sector scheme 'National Meanscum-Merit Scholarship-Scheme (NMMSS)'

For State of Karnataka, allotted quota of fresh scholarships under NMMSS is 5534 per year. The details of the number of fresh and renewal scholarships released during last 5 years including current year to NMMSS beneficiaries of Chikkaballapur Distt., Karnataka as per data made available by NIC- NSP are as follows:-

|   SI. No. | Financial Year   |   No of Scholarships (Fresh+ Renewals) | Amount Sanctioned (Rupees in lakh)   |
|-----------|------------------|----------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
|         1 | 2020-21          |                                    205 | 24,60,000 /-                         |
|         2 | 2021-22          |                                    191 | 22,92,000/-                          |
|         3 | 2022-23          |                                    199 | 23,88,000/-                          |
|         4 | 2023-24          |                                    186 | 22,32,000/-                          |
|         5 | 2024-25*         |                                    190 | Sanction under process               |

- (f): Bharatavani project under Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) has been dedicated for  sharing  knowledge  resources  in  121  languages  (22  Scheduled  Languages  and  99  NonScheduled Languages) including Kannada language. This project aims to promote learning in and about the indigenous languages through variety of resources and tools including transliteration in its web platform and mobile app. CIIL, Mysuru has been allotted the following grants for last four years including current year which includes Bharatavani project also. The details are as follows:

|   Sl. No. | Financial Year   |   Grant (in Crore) |
|-----------|------------------|--------------------|
|         1 | 2021-22          |              57.88 |
|         2 | 2022-23          |              60    |
|         3 | 2023-24          |              61.37 |
|         4 | 2024-25          |              42.07 |