Konkani as medium of education: Academy delegation meets Edu min for consultation

Mangaluru: Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy met Education minister, Suresh Kumar and urged him to introduce Konkani as a medium of education in the state.

The academy made the request in the context of the proposed national educational policy (NEP) that lays stress on education in the mother tongue.

The delegation explained the benefits of having the Konkani language as a medium of education.

In response, the minister assured that in the upcoming days with the support of the Central and State Government further steps shall be taken, such as the rules and regulations for the implementation of the same shall be drafted.

Academy President Dr. Jagadish Pai and the members Arun G. Shet, Naveen Nayak, Gurumoorthy V. Shet and Narasimha Kamath were present at the delegation.

The NEP states that the medium of instruction until at least Class V should be the mother tongue or regional language. Therefore the academy requested that Konkani be used as a medium of education up to Class V and offered as a subject for classes above.

The academy had also requested the government to include Konkani as a subject for courses like B.Ed and M.Ed and appoint more Konkani educators.

Konkani has already been added as a third language for interested students till Class X on an optional basis in both Kannada and Devanagari scripts.