An ambitious plan of the Jaganmohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh to offer English medium education in all the government schools has hit a legal barricade.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday set aside the government orders intended to convert school education to English medium, saying that children and parents should be given the choice in the language of learning.
Reddy’s decision last year has attracted disapproval from various quarters – from a section of academics to politicians like TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, JanaSena’s Pawan Kalyan and even vice-president of India M Venkaiah Naidu, who advocated teaching in the mother tongue.
According to the YSRCP government’s earlier plans, classes 1 to 6 would switch to English medium from 2020-21 academic year, while 7th to 10th would be added gradually in the next four years.
There are 44,512 government schools in the state, with Telugu as the primary language. After the transformation, Telugu was to remain only as a compulsory subject in every class.
Reacting to criticism, Reddy had called Chandrababu Naidu, Pawan Kalyan and Venkaiah Naidu hypocrites for sending their kids, grandchildren to corporate schools but wanting the poor to uphold Telugu pride and language sentiment.
The GOs were challenged in the High Court through PILs, including that of a local BJP leader.
Reacting after the order, AP’s school education minister Adimulapu Suresh stated their English medium plan as in accordance with aspirations of the common man, sending their kids to private schools for English, paying fees beyond their capacities.
“Is it a crime to offer English medium education to the poor sections of the society?” the minister reportedly asked while accusing the opposition TDP as playing politics in a matter of children’s future.
The government has defended its move saying that a Telugu medium school would function, one each in every mandal. Over one lakh teachers are already trained for the change, the minister said.