Kannada Development Authority (KDA) has served a notice to the management of Sophia High School, Bengaluru, seeking an explanation over allegations of plans to drop Kannada as the second language from eighth grade onwards.
In the notice sent on Tuesday, Santosh Hanagalla, Secretary, KDA, said: “A group of 50 parents have allegedly approached the school to drop Kannada as a subject. Screenshots of the chats were circulated on social media and news was published in various media in this regard. According to the Kannada Language Learning Act-2015, teaching Kannada as a first or second language is compulsory in all schools across the state. The Kannada Language Comprehensive Development Act 2022 has also upheld the same. Therefore, the KDA has considered this issue seriously and the management should give a detailed report within three days of the notice.”
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Hanagalla said, “This is a very sensitive issue. Therefore, we served the notice to the school management. After a detailed explanation and clarification from the school, we will submit the report to the State government for further action.”
Kannada and Culture Minister Shivaraj S. Tangadagi has also written to Madhu Bangarappa, Minister for the Department of School Education and Literacy to initiate action against the school management.
