The Andhra Pradesh government's proposal to abolish first-language Telugu composite subjects from the current academic system has raised several concerns among students and private educational institutions, stated a report in The New Indian Express.
What is composite first language?
Composite first language subjects are those where students learn one language as a major subject and another as a minor one. For example, if a student opts for Telugu as the composite subject, Sanskrit will be the minor subject. Similarly, Urdu/Hindi, Urdu/Persian and Urdu/Arabic are some of the other composite language subjects, which also are set to be abolished.
Currently, in the case of Telugu composite subject, Telugu as a major subject carries a weightage of 70 marks and Sanskrit carries 30 marks
According to the government's latest proposal, students will study either of the two subjects in a composite subject and will be assessed for a total of 100 marks for that subject.
Additionally, the students will now be required to answer Sanskrit questions entirely in the Devanagari script during examinations.
Worries begin
Several concerns were raised with regard to the proposal during discussions between Education Minister Botcha Satyanarayana and government teachers' unions. Students, too, are a worried lot as composite subjects are considered scoring, with most of them securing 100% marks.
According to sources, as many as five lakh students of Classes VI to X opted for composite Telugu in the current academic year. A total of 86,885 Class X students attempted the Telugu composite exam for the final exams in the academic year 2022-23. The numbers might be the same this year too, officials added.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Director of Government Examinations D Devananda Reddy made it clear that the new system will be implemented from the current academic year itself. "Telugu or Sanskrit examinations will be conducted for 100 marks from this year itself and students who have opted for Sanskrit should attempt the examination in Devanagari script," he added.
"The Telugu or Sanskrit examinations will be conducted for 100 marks from the current syllabus only," he explained.
From next year, please
Meanwhile, various stakeholders have urged the government to implement the system from the next academic year.
Representatives of the Government Sanskrit Teachers' Association met in Eluru last month and expressed that the sudden change will be challenging for students.
A Sanskrit teacher from Veeravasaram Ch Phani Kumar pointed out that the proposal will be implemented in the middle of the year, that too after the formative assessment-1 exam (FA-1) was completed and students were now preparing for FA2.
"Additionally, current textbooks of the Sanskrit language are designed for 50 marks paper and will require revision to align with the proposed change," he explained.
However, he expressed that answering Sanskrit questions in Devanagari script, instead of other languages like Telugu, Hindi, or English, could potentially enhance the students' proficiency in the language.
Unions and associations speak up
President of Teachers' Union of Andhra Pradesh (STUAP) L Sai Srinivas pointed out that before implementing the proposal, the government must fill all vacant positions for Sanskrit and Telugu teachers.
President of AP Upadhyaya Sangam (APUS) Ch Shravan Kumar stressed that this year's Class X students should follow the traditional format.
President of AP Private Schools' Association Komaragiri Chandrashekar requested the government to implement the new policy from the next academic year. However, he expressed that students will opt for Sanskrit in the new format as it is a scoring subject.
Telugu first
Meanwhile, teachers' unions also opposed another proposal of the government to make Sanskrit the first language and Telugu the second language.
APUS president argued that as the mother tongue of the majority of the students in the state, Telugu should remain the first language. "Sanskrit should be an optional subject for Hindi and not Telugu," he suggested.
The Teachers' Union said Telugu should be retained as a first language in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
However, the director of examinations asserted that Sanskrit will continue to be treated as a second language along with Hindi, and Telugu will be the first language.
