Bilingual education with English option to be provided in all government schools of Karnataka

According to an NDTV report, the Karnataka government has taken a major decision to start English medium classes alongside Kannada medium in all government schools across the state. The main objective of this step is to provide more choices to students and parents and to improve access to English education, especially in rural areas. Announcing this scheme, School Education and Literacy Minister Madhu Bangarappa stated that under this scheme, eventually all 48,527 government schools in Karnataka will be covered. In this arrangement, the Kannada medium education system will not be removed, but students will be able to choose the option of studying in either Kannada or English.

In recent years, many parents have been attracted towards private schools because they believe that knowledge of the English language is very important for competitive exams, higher education, and future jobs. Due to this reason, a decline in student enrollment was observed in some government schools. Officials believe that providing English education within government schools will ensure that students continue to get admission in schools locally and families will not need to incur heavy expenses on high private school fees.

The initiation of this bilingual education program in the state was first done in the year 2019-20 with 6,539 schools. Students enrolled in the first batch under this program have now reached grade 7. Furthermore, by the year 2025-26, the scope of this scheme has been expanded to more than 12,600 schools. Out of a total of 1,465 government schools in Bengaluru North and Bengaluru South, 1,103 schools have already received permission to run English medium primary classes.

Education experts say that the success of this program will largely depend on how well teachers are prepared to teach in English. To support this transition, the Education Department is collaborating with organizations like the British Council to conduct training programs for teachers. These training programs are designed to improve teachers' English communication skills and help them teach various subjects effectively in a bilingual classroom. However, some experts also believe that short-term training may prove to be insufficient, therefore regular and long-term training is recommended, especially for teachers working in rural areas.

The state government has clarified that the important place of the Kannada language in school education will be maintained. Students will continue learning in their mother tongue while also developing English reading, writing, and speaking skills. The government believes that this bilingual system will make quality education more accessible to students from rural and economically weaker sections and help them build strong English language skills.