Tulu as third language in schools need of the hour

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Feb 08 2018: Educational institutions headed by Tulu speaking people are hesitating to implement Tulu as a third language in their school’s curriculum, lamented Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy Registrar B Chandrahas Rai.

He was speaking during the inauguration of a seminar on ‘Opportunities and challenges in Tulu language teaching in primary and high schools meant for teachers’, as conducted by Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy and St Aloysius College in Mangaluru on Tuesday.

Rai said that many Catholic institutions in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, which are Konkani linguistic minority, have introduced Tulu as an optional subject for the third language. “But, some institutions which are headed by Tulu speaking people, are not willing to teach Tulu language in their schools, which is unfortunate. This has deprived many children of learning their mother tongue in their school curriculum,” he said and sought the cooperation of educational institutions towards establishing Tulu as a learning subject.

He further said that in Dakshina Kannada, 1,647 students from 35 schools have preferred Tulu over other optional languages as the third language. Three schools in Mangaluru, three schools in Bantwal, 20 schools in Puttur, nine schools in Belthangadi and three schools in Sullia have introduced Tulu in their curriculum. A total of 445 students will take the third language Tulu examinations in the upcoming SSLC exams. Last year, this number was around 200.

Inaugurating the programme, St Aloysius College Principal Fr Pravin Martis said that the local culture thrives on local dialects and languages. Therefore, it is necessary that we preserve local languages like Tulu. If we do not stand up for our local culture, there is a danger of losing our vision, Fr Pravin added.

Sessions were conducted by folklore scholar Dr Gananatha Ekkaru and Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy member Prabhakar Neermarga.

St Aloysius College Registrar Dr A M Narahari presided over the programme. Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy member and writer Shivananda Karkera, Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy member secretary Durga Menon and St Aloysius College Tulu Koota Coordinator Rashmi were present among others.