Private schools body opposes Karnataka govt move to replace third language with AI

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, Aug 29, 2026: Karnataka Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools of Karnataka has raised objections to the government’s decision to include Artificial Intelligence (AI) as an alternative for the third language in the Karnataka Public Schools (KPS) and some select government high schools.

Recently, Samagra Shikshana Karnataka (SSK) issued a circular about the introduction of AI in 1,642 government high schools as a National Skill Qualifying Framework (NSQF) subject for grades 9 and 10 from the current academic year and said, students can choose AI in place of third language.

Opposing the government’s move, the association submitted a petition to Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and requested to have both AI and third language. "For a large section of Karnataka’s children, the third language list includes critical mother tongues and community connections, such as Urdu, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Konkani, Tulu, Malayalam, Hindi, and Sanskrit. Forcing students to choose between AI and these languages deprives students of their linguistic-cultural connection, undermining minority rights and school autonomy," reads the letter.

"If the government and Karnataka Public Schools (KPS) are forced to replace languages with AI while private/aided schools maintain their normal curriculum, it creates a deeply unequal, split standard within the same SSLC board examination. All students within the same board deserve equal access, equal evaluation, and uniform curriculum standards," it added.

During a recent meeting MLCs, including Puttanna, Shashil Namoshi and Balkis Banu, have raised this issue and requested the chief minister to intervene.