Raviprasad Kamila / The Hindu

Mangalore, Jul 24: Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy has introduced Tulu for eighth standard students at four private high schools in Dakshina Kannada on an experimental basis from this academic year.

Academy president Palthady Ramakrishna Achar told The Hindu that the four high schools have begun teaching Tulu as a language subject from July 15.

They are Alva’s High School, Moodbidri; Dattanjaneya High School, Odiyoor; Ramakunjeshwara English-medium High School, Ramakunja; and Vani Composite Pre-University College, Belthangady.

These schools do not get grants from the Government. The authorities managing these schools showed interest to teach Tulu, he said.

Mr. Achar said the academy had prepared the syllabi. It comprises prose, poetry, Tulu grammar and introduction to Tulu script. The textbook on prose comprises two texts titled “Koti-Chennaya” and “Bhootala Pandya” and the textbook on poetry had 15 poems.

The academy trained eight teachers as two each from four schools recently on teaching Tulu. It will provide honorarium to them.

He said the schools would teach Tulu for two periods in a week totalling 60 periods in the academic year. The teachers would conduct the tests and the examination and the academy would issue certificates to students who had passed the examination.

Mr. Achar said that in each such school there were two categories of students those who knew Tulu and others. Of the two teachers in each such school one would teach Tulu for those who knew it and other would teach it to those students who did not know the language.

He said that 10 private high schools, including the four schools where Tulu was being taught now, had shown interest to teach Tulu. It would be extended to other schools after assessing the pros and cons of this experiment.

Mr. Achar said the Government had not yet permitted the academy to introduce Tulu from the sixth standard. It had not permitted it to introduce Tulu for the VIII standard.

However, the academy had introduced it for the eighth standard on its own as managements of the four high schools responded quickly to the proposal.

Tulu in Kerala

Mr. Achar said that the Government Degree College at Kasaragod in Kerala had introduced a certificate course in Tulu from this academic year. It had introduced Tulu as an optional subject in its Kannada post-graduation course from this academic year. It had adopted syllabi from the books published from the Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy.