BENGALURU: The number of students pursuing Master of Arts in Kannada literature has declined in the past few years, say Kannada professors from various universities in the state.
There are several reasons for this decline, including limited work opportunities, lack of permanent lecturers in the departments, and the absence of new colleges to teach courses in the humanities.
Professor Nithyananda B Shetty, Tumkur University, said, “Job opportunities are limited after completion of MA in Kannada. Apart from research and teaching, the only work opportunities candidates get are in media and entertainment industry. Though many new PU colleges are opening, they priortise teaching Science and Commerce. Literature or language is limited to two semesters in degree courses instead of four semesters. Therefore, fewer lecturers are hired in government colleges and private colleges to teach literature.”
Prof Shetty said there are 70 students in first and second year put together and 52 students are pursuing full-time and part-time PhD in Kannada. Last year, the strength of students was same. He said the language lacks quality teachers across universities.
“Teachers or professors who are appointed now don’t have expertise in classical text or even modern literature. They teach literature to students using review materials on a particular literary text. For instance, they don’t read Pampa Bharata in detail to students. They read a review of this piece, so how can students develop analytical or reasoning skills?”
Dominic Davidappa, Director, Kannada Adhyayana Kendra, Bangalore University, said, “There are two different sections in Kannada department here. While one department is Kannada Literature, second one is Comparative Studies. There are 53 students this year who are pursuing MA in Kannada Literature and 13 students in comparative studies. The intake for Comparative Studies is 20. Last year, there were 57 pursuing Kannada Literature and 19 in Comparative Studies.”
He said, “While there are totally 10 permanent lecturers for both the departments, we are adopting modern technology so that more students pursue Kannada Literature. We have started teaching them AI tools for translation, introduced smart boards and others.”
Davidappa noted that majority of students who pursue Kannada are from rural areas.
“Many students from rural areas including Kolar and Chikkaballapura are first generation graduates in their families and villages,” he added.
Supporting the fact that many rural students take up Kannada Literature, Dr Chandrashekar Bettalli, guest lecturer at Kuvempu Institute of Kannada Studies in Mysore university, said, “We have 76 students pursuing MA in Kannada and majority of them are from rural areas. The reason being they aspire to become teachers in schools or write competitive exams.”
He added that there are only two permanent lecturers and 14 guest lecturers.
The story is reported by Rashmi Patil for The New Indian Express
