Hyderabad: Telugu language teachers at the University of Ottomania strongly oppose the latest proposal from the Telangana State Council on Higher Education (TSCHE) to require second language credits for undergraduate programs from 20 to 12. At their annual meeting at the Academy of Arts, they warned that the move could endanger students’ future academic prospects and limit their future qualifications and teaching and teaching physicians after teaching.
The proposal was presented at an online meeting held on May 14 by Tsche with state university registrar and language department heads, and was subject to widespread resistance. The faculty noted that existing rules require students to complete 20 credits at the undergraduate level in order to be eligible for graduate studies. Cutting 12 credits will make students ineligible for MA and PhD programs in Telugu.
“It’s not just credit. It’s about native languages in higher education, especially in states like Telangana,” said Dr. Emmidi Mahender, senior faculty member. “Reducing the number of credits effectively shuts down future academic and job opportunities for our students.”
The meeting adopted a series of resolutions requiring Telugu to be regarded as a core subject in the social sciences under the degree degree admission system, and that the option can also be extended to BSC students under the CBCS framework. Teachers also expressed concern that the state’s actions violated the spirit of the National Education Policy (NEP), which encourages teaching in a native language, even for technical and professional courses.
Another participant lecturer said: “States like Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have begun to conduct engineering and medical education in Hindi. But in Telangana, we are destroying our own language.”
Teachers believe that reducing the role of Telugu in degree programs will not only lead to fewer research scholars in the field, but also enable students to become student qualifications at the institution of Navodaya and Kendriya Vidyalayas, where three years of Telugu are essential.
They also warned the government not to view language through a purely employment perspective. “Language is not just a tool of work. It has the history, culture and values of the people,” Mahender said. “Through literature, students understand compassion, compassion and morality – things that no technical topic can teach. Without this, we will develop a generation who may understand skills but not society.”
