Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan sparked a big controversy some time ago when he criticised the initiative of YS Jaganmohan Reddy government’s initiative introducing English medium in government schools of Andhra Pradesh. The actor-turned-politician’s observation that thousands of crores of rupees were being wasted when the students can actually learn English by watching videos on Youtube became kicked up a storm then.
The issue came back under sharp focus now, with popular writer and political theorist Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd taking strong exception to it. Ilaiah, who is among the strong votaries of “access of English medium education to the weaker and marginalised sections”, delivered an incisive rebuke to Pawan Kalyan in his inimitable style. In an interview to a Telugu news television channel, Ilaiah predicted that English medium education, being implemented by the YS Jagan government in Andhra Pradesh, would result in a paradigm shift in village-level education system in the country in the next 10 years.
In this context, he delivered a stinging rebuke to Pawan Kalyan who, he said, only exposed his ignorance by trivialising such a serious social issue. “How can an Intermediate dropout understand the greatness of English medium education in government schools? In the years to come, there will be a burgeoning crop of intellectuals, doctors, engineers and scientists from Andhra Pradesh who will be of great service, not just to the country but to the world. While YS Jagan is striving to extricate hidden raw talent from villages, people like Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan can’t digest this and hence are indulging in irrational criticism.
“Pawan Kalyan is wondering what is the need for the Andhra Pradesh regime to allocate thousands of crores in its budget for English medium education in government schools. I have a straight question to him… Should the government allocate budget to his (PK’s) films instead of providing English medium education to the children of the poorer sections?”, he quipped.
The Andhra Pradesh government, under Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy, had infused a silent revolution in rural education by introducing English medium in government schools. The first-of-its-kind initiative, which is fast-emerging as a role model for many other states, has received accolades from intellectuals and pundits from the education sector. Unfortunately, a relentless campaign is being carried out on the political front by TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan besides their crony media to paint the noble effort of YS Jagan in poor light. These leaders are crying hoarse that the importance of Telugu would be diminished because of the introduction of English medium. But they hide for cover when asked as to what was the preferred medium of education for their children and grandchildren in expensive private schools.
English medium education in AP; Pawan Kalyan gets a tight slap from Kancha Ilaiah
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