Bengaluru: Nearly 93 per cent of Karnataka state board students have opted for Hindi as their third language this academic year, highlighting its widespread preference despite ongoing debates around ‘Hindi imposition’, Sruthy Susan Ullas reported.
7.5 lakh students choose Hindi as third language
According to official data, around 8.1 lakh students selected a third language. Of these, over 7.5 lakh chose Hindi under the general course. An additional 4,778 students studied Hindi through NCERT curriculum in Adarsha Vidyalayas. This takes the total number of Hindi learners to approximately 7.6 lakh.
In comparison, significantly fewer students opted for other languages. Kannada was chosen by 11,483 students, while 32,135 selected English. Among other options, 5,544 students picked Urdu and 5,159 opted for Sanskrit. Arabic was chosen by 361 students. Regional languages saw minimal uptake, with 845 students choosing Tulu, 34 opting for Konkani, and only three selecting Marathi.
Policy shift
The trend comes amid a recent policy change by the state government. The evaluation system for third languages in SSLC has been shifted from marks-based assessment to a grading system. This move is believed to have influenced language preferences among students.
“With the third-language policy in place, it was natural that most students picked Hindi as it is seen as one of the most prominent languages,” said Manjunath HK, honorary president of Karnataka State High School Assistant Teachers’ Association.
Karnataka School Education and Literacy Minister Madhu Bangarappa last month said that the third language, which earlier carried 100 marks out of a total of 625, will no longer be included in the final score. Instead, students will now be graded with categories such as A, B, C and D.
He added that the revised system will apply to all third languages in the curriculum, including Hindi, Sanskrit, Tulu, Marathi and Arabic.