Bangalore, Oct 13: H Mahima of Viveka Girls High School at Kota in Udupi district has been conferred with'Kannada Madhyama award' by Chief Minister Siddaramaih for scoring highest marks in SSLC examinations in Kannada medium.
Daughter of a hotelier, Mahima had scored 99 per cent in the exam for the year 2012-13. She wants to take up medicine.
After presenting the award, Siddaramaiah said that a uniform education system to ensure equality and uplift of students from economically weaker sections of society was the need of the hour.
He said students from the lower strata of society had been suffering because of the caste system and they should not be discriminated against in the name of English-medium education.
Recalling the days when he was the chairman of the first Kannada Watchdog Committee set up by the then Ramakrishna Hegde government in 1983, Mr. Siddaramaiah said worthwhile development was not possible unless children were taught in their mother tongue or regional language.
Mr. Siddaramaiah said there was disparity in development between those studying in English-medium schools and others and a uniform education system for government and private schools would eradicate it. He said he had scored a first class in Class 10 in Kannada medium, but slipped to second class in PU because he had to study in English.
“It is possible to be a successful individual if one gets education in the mother tongue. English should be learnt as a language. There is no truth in the argument that Kannada medium students cannot become engineers, doctors, scientists, politicians or bureaucrats. It is possible to earn fame at the international level even if one studies in Kannada medium,” he argued. The State government has already instructed all institutions which deal with Kannadigas to mandatorily use Kannada. This rule is applicable even to officials. “We, Kannadigas, have been very generous when it comes to the mother tongue. In other states, it is mandatory to learn the local language. But in Karnataka, one can speak any language and survive. The time has come to make Kannada mandatory in the State,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Prof A?R?Mitra, writer, said that children who speak Kannada at home hesitate to study in Kannada medium. However, Muslim children, who speak their mother tongue at home, study in Kannada medium and perform well. They need to be complimented, he said.
The Kannada Development Authority presented cash awards to 1233 Kannada medium students of Bangalore and Mysore divisions who have performed well in various courses.
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