LI Network
Published on: 4 August 2023 at 12:59 IST
The High Court of Karnataka has taken cognizance of a petition challenging the compulsory inclusion of Kannada as a language subject in CBSE/CICSE schools. The court has issued a notice to the state government to respond to the matter.
The petition was filed by twenty parents of children studying in such schools, and it challenges the validity of the Kannada Language Learning Act 2015, The Kannada Language Learning Rules 2017, and the Karnataka Educational Institutions (Issue of No-Objection Certificate and Control Rules) 2022. According to these regulations, students are required to learn Kannada as their first, second, or third language.
The petition argues that these enactments infringe upon the rights of school children in Karnataka to choose their First, Second, and Third languages. The compulsory inclusion of Kannada could have serious consequences on the academic performance and future employment opportunities of the students, as stated in the petition.
The petitioners, including Somashekar C, Srinivas Gaonkar, Geraldine Perpetua Andrews, Aneesha Hussain, and 16 other parents from Bengaluru, have raised their objections against the State of Karnataka, Union of India, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), and Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CICSE).
The division bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice M G S Kamal heard the petition and ordered the issuance of notices to the respondents to present their counterarguments.
