Compulsory Telugu Finds No Favor From Students, Parents

Even as the government is all set to issue GOs regarding the compulsory introduction of Telugu from school level till graduation; students, parents, and central board schools are all up in arms against the idea, citing grades, the loss of cosmopolitanism, and the difficulty to cope as just a few of their grievances.

Here's a lowdown on what the rule would entail.

- Telugu will be introduced as a compulsory subject in schools, as well as at intermediate and degree levels, regardless of the institution being under the state board or a central board.

- Students from schools with Telugu as an existing language option will have to pick it either as their second language or as their third language.

- Inter and degree colleges, including those for professional courses like B. Tech., will have to add a third language to the curriculum to accomodate Telugu as a subject.

- Those new to the state, however, need not panic too much as they will be given a few years to learn their basics. Those who have been living in Andhra Pradesh for more than seven years will have no such respite.

While government officials hail the decision, claiming that it will aid in the promotion and protection of Telugu, parents - especially those from other states - lament the added load of a new language on already already burdened students.

Students, on the other hand, fear the effect this will have on their grades and their overall ranking as the new rule, once in place, will give students who have been learning Telugu for a long time an unfair advantage.

CBSE and ICSE schools emphasise the fact that no such order has been given to them from the central board, and hence, the decision could not be forced on them by the state.