Bengaluru: Kannada Development Authority (KDA) has urged the higher education department to make four hours of Kannada teaching per week mandatory in all undergraduate and postgraduate colleges, warning that shrinking the space for language and literature in higher education is weakening critical thinking, cultural engagement, and philosophical enquiry.In a letter to the department, KDA chairperson Purushottam Bilimale called for strict enforcement of existing govt orders mandating four hours of Kannada instruction every week. He alleged that many institutions reduce Kannada teaching hours and rush through the syllabus, undermining the subject’s academic value.“While there is a syllabus and textbook available, most colleges do not comply with it. Many colleges take ad hoc teachers and complete this within a month. This is not how it has to be done,” noted a KDA official.The authority has also sought equal pay and service conditions for Kannada teachers on a par with faculty of other subjects, dedicated monitoring teams to oversee implementation, and legal action against institutions that fail to comply with govt directives.Expressing concern over the growing market-driven approach to education, he said language, literature, and cultural studies have been increasingly marginalised in colleges. “This is the death of philosophy and the death of language,” the letter stated, referring to examination systems that reward only fixed right-or-wrong answers.KDA has also written to the technical education department regarding the recruitment of Kannada teachers in its colleges. In a recent notification for recruitment of teaching posts, it did not notify Kannada teachers. KDA questioned it on the number of vacancies and why no action has been taken to fill Kannada teacher posts.
