Hyderabad: With the State government making Telugu as a compulsory language for all students of the all the affiliated Board across the State for the next academic year, several schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) have made Telugu the sole second language, and this has put non-Telugu students in a problem. Parents have urged to introduce Telugu as a third language instead of the second language.

A few parents pointed out that without any prior notice, many top CBSE schools in the city have made Telugu a second language. This sparked widespread concern among students and parents, who feel that it limits their academic freedom and disregards their choice of language preferences. Particularly, children from non-Telugu speaking communities and families that relocate frequently will face challenges, as schools should consider such students but likely will not do so.

DPS, located in Bachupally, is offering students to take Telugu as a third language, whereas the same school at Nacharam has made Telugu a second language. This language implementation will create more problems for higher school students. For example, students entering Class IX with no prior Telugu knowledge would face immense pressure to achieve proficiency and pass the board exam in Telugu. It is hard to imagine how these students can master the language sufficiently to compete with peers who have studied Telugu since Class I.

Rahul Kejriwal, a parent, said, “We are not against making Telugu a compulsory subject, but not as the second language, since many non-Telugu speaking students who have just moved to the city will face difficulties. It would be better if the Telangana Government reconsidered the mandate of making Telugu the second language, and instead introduced it as a third language in a phased manner, while also allowing students to choose a second language that aligns better with their needs, interests, and backgrounds.”

““It was very surprising that without any prior notice, my son, who is in Class VIII, had found that Telugu was suddenly made the second language in his school. This has sparked concern for us, as we just moved to the city last year and there was no such implementation at that time. We had heard that in 2018, the state government proposed introducing Telugu in a phased manner in schools, but nothing was implemented then. Now, all of a sudden, Telugu has been made mandatory as the second language,” said Kamlesh Tiwari, another parent.