In a significant development to help professionals like doctors and engineers to deal with people during their professional interaction, the Karnataka Government has made Kannada as a subject compulsory for the first year undergraduate professional courses like medical and engineering from this academic year.
However the non Kannada students need not write any exam but they have to attend Kannada classes compulsorily in the first year of the course. The Karnataka state Higher Education Council (KSHEC) has made Kannada language a compulsory subject in undergraduate professional courses including engineering and medical from this academic year. The decision is based on a report by a committee of experts headed by former Kannada University vice chancellor Professor HC Boralingaiah.
Professor Boralingaiah said a report was submitted based on a committee headed by him that the KSHEC was implementing this making Kannada compulsory for the professional courses from this academic year. He said "learning Kannada is important and it bridges cultural gap. It is beneficial for medical students who will have to deal with the rural people. It is always better to learn local language." According to KSHEC sources more than a lakh students from outside the state come to Karnataka to study undergraduate professional courses every year .