An alleged request from a section of parents of students in Sophia High School to drop Kannada as the second language from eighth grade onwards has elicited sharp reactions on social media.
In screenshots of the chats which were circulated on social media, it emerged that a group of 50 parents have allegedly approached the school to drop Kannada as a subject.
A parent confirmed the claims. “I am not among that group. But some of them have approached the school about the matter as they do not want their children to learn Kannada. While the school has listened to their concerns, there has been no progress in the regard,” the parent said.
However, the school management has denied the claim. When asked if the school has scheduled a meeting with the department to discuss the same, Arnavaz K. Kapadia, faculty, Sophia High School, said, “No. We always abide by the rules of the government. We have never dropped Kannada and have been following the government prescribed book”.
Officials of the Department of School Education and Literacy clarified that while they had come across the allegations, there had been no complaints against the school so far.
However, there were sharp reactions to the allegations on social media. “We do not need schools that do not teach Kannada in Karnataka,” said Mohan Dasari of the Aam Aadmi Party.
