Tension is high in Karnataka at present after a warning from a group of pro Kannada organisations that SSLC Hindi examination conducted 31 th March would not be organized. Groups are taking siege to the centres of the test and are also raising the temperature in language conversation between people and government here.
Hindi exams that were expected on 30th March have now been postponed so to speak by a day. Kannada groups have protested against this and have not agreed to drop Hindi into the SSLC curriculum.
Leaders from various Kannada groups met with Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa recently. Sara Govind, Shivaramegowda and Manju Ganapathipura have participated in this exercise and the students’ activists submitted a memorandum to the minister.
They want Hindi exams cancelled, or students can score passed without attending it. Hindi, they’ve claimed, is an imposition that was unfairly imposed on Kannada speakers and want the policy of “Pass Without Hindi” to be implemented.
Protests at exam centres and a boycott have been suggested by student advocates and parents of the school and others in advance how they may affect the examination completion process which will be done efficiently. There's trouble at school if more people are coming out in public about law and order, they believe.
Education ministry officials have not yet announced any actual change to the exam schedule, suggesting that officials are still reviewing the situation. Meanwhile, officials have to do whatever they must for examination and for peace for their preparations of exam and for continued continuous teaching of exam preparation in the country.
That struggle highlights the continuing language conflict of Karnataka, where pro-Kannada groups always defied Hindi in education and administration from the start and have long protested the imposition of Hindi.
As exam date approaches the state government’s response and whether it will remain with the current system, or respond to the protesting community is in consideration.
