Providing Education through English-medium will help poor, marginalised students: AP to SC

Providing education through English medium will help poor and marginalised students and will help them in career growth, Andhra Pradesh Government told SC.

Andhra Pradesh government has informed the Supreme Court that providing education through English medium will help the poor and marginalised students and will bring better opportunities for career growth. The state government told the Apex Court headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde that the Andhra Pradesh High Court order, which stayed the implementation of such plan for government-run Telugu medium schools, would limit the prospects of the students hailing from weaker strata of society.

Senior advocate KV Viswanathan, appearing for the state government, told the Supreme Court that the most formative years of a child requires a medium of instruction to be in English so that no “islands of exclusion” are created. He said the government had said that it would set up Telugu schools at Madal headquarter levels with transport facilities to help those students who wanted to study in their native language.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted before the bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, that those who have studied in the vernacular medium are in ‘islands of isolation’ is a bit “uncharitable”. The Apex Court will do the next hearing on the matter next week.

In April, the High Court had set aside the order for government schools to convert the medium of educational instructions from Telugu to English. Vishwanathan had earlier said a majority of parents wanted English to be the medium of education and it was a progressive, forward-looking measure in accordance with the Constitution.

Last week, the state government had announced that it has decided to reopen schools from November 2. According to the reports, the state will distribute Jagananna Vidya Deevena kits to children on October 5 to enable them to get their uniforms stitched by the time schools reopen. 

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