Mangaluru: The newly appointed body of the Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy plans to urge the government to appoint guest teachers for Tulu in nearly 35 schools in the undivided Dakshina Kannada district. Out of 633 students who opted for Tulu as the third optional language in SSLC, 629 passed, and 321 scored a perfect 100 in the March/April exams this year. Despite this success, Tulu teachers in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts have not received their honorarium from the academy for the past four years.
Academy chairman Tharanath Gatti Kapikad mentioned that the government is likely to consider recruiting guest teachers through the department of school education. “At least one teacher is required for each school that teaches Tulu as a third language. While SDMCs in government schools and management of aided schools were paying honorarium to Tulu teachers, the academy was also providing Rs 3,000 per month. However, in the past three years, the academy did not release honorarium to Tulu teachers, and in the last year, there was no administrative body for the academy. We have planned to settle one year’s honorarium to Tulu teachers next week after a general body meeting,” he said.
In many schools, subject teachers trained in the Tulu curriculum are teaching the language. When Tulu was introduced as the third language in schools of coastal districts in 2010, the academy committed to paying the honorarium to teachers. The academy is now demanding that the government release honorarium payments to Tulu teachers through the department of school education. They are also calling for the recruitment of guest teachers for Tulu in coastal district schools. Additionally, the academy continues to push for Tulu to be included as an official language of the state, believing this will help address many issues related to the language.