APCC working president N. Thulasi Reddy on Friday warned Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy against committing a “historical blunder” by replacing Telugu with English as the medium of instruction in the government schools in the State.
In a statement, Mr. Thulasi Reddy ridiculed Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy for calling himself “mama” (maternal uncle) of the schoolchildren at a programme organised to launch the Jagananna Vidya Kanuka scheme on Thursday.
Referring to the Chief Minister’s claims that he would help the children progress in life by making them proficient in English language, Mr. Thulasi Reddy said, “Jagan mama is showing Telugu language in a poor light, and portraying it as inferior to English.”
The Congress leader said that 98% of the Nobel laureates had pursued education in their mother tongue. Great people such as Mahatma Gandhi, poet Rabindranath Tagore, architect of Indian Constitution B.R. Ambedkar and former President Abdul Kalam were proponents of the use of mother tongue as the medium of instruction in primary education, Mr. Thulasi Reddy said.
He said the Chief Minister should not spoil the future of the children and allow them to pursue their primary education in Telugu medium.
