Bengaluru: For the first time since the state implemented its language policy in 1994, making it mandatory for government-run and government-aided schools to make the mother tongue the medium of instruction, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has invited applications to start English medium schools between standards one and five.
Till now, English medium schools were allowed only after Standard VI, and affiliated schools were expected to follow Kannada medium in primary school.
The latest notification issued by the DPI states that October 31 is the last date to submit applications. Interested institutions planning to start an English medium school must pay Rs 25,000 as registration fee and Rs 10,000 as processing fee.
The notification also lays down some strict conditions – the managements should have a minimum of half-an-acre of land against their name or must have possession of land for a 30-year lease period. If they want to have Standards IX and X, the institutions should have a minimum of one acre of land. Five rooms and four toilets each for boys and girls are mandatory. But playground is not compulsory.
The new schools should adhere to all the safety and security guidelines issued by the Home Department. “Schools will get permission only after installing the security and safety instruments mandated by the police,” the notification states.
An officer from the DPI told Deccan Chronicle that by inviting applications to start new schools in English medium from the standard I, the state government has hinted that it has scrapped the language policy. “As per the Supreme Court direction, the existing schools can now convert from Kannada medium into English medium from Standard I. But there was no provision to start a new school in English medium. The notification has changed all that,” he said.
