The purpose is to make the subject easier and more engaging for students to understand. It is being seen as the Telangana government's initiative to promote a simpler form of the Telugu language.
Published Feb 26, 2025 | 11:18 AM ⚊ Updated Feb 28, 2025 | 6:25 PM
Telugu. (iStock)
Synopsis: The Telangana School Education Department issued orders to implement Telugu as a compulsory subject in all schools in the state, including CBSE, ICSE, IB boards. The government memo also directed that “Singidi” (Standard Telugu) be replaced with “Vennela” (Simple Telugu) for classes IX and X.
The Telangana School Education Department issued orders to implement Telugu as a compulsory subject in schools affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Indian School Certificate Examinations (ICSE), International Baccalaureate (IB), and any other boards in the state.
The government memo (No: 14572), issued on Tuesday, 25 February, by the Secretary to the Government (School Education) Dr Yogita Rana, also directed that “Singidi” (Standard Telugu) be replaced with “Vennela” (Simple Telugu) with code (089) as per the CBSE subject list (Language Group I) for Class IX from the academic year 2025-26 and for Class X from the academic year 2026-27.
Rana issued the orders after approving a letter sent by the director of the School Education Department.
In the school curriculum, “Singidi” refers to the Standard Telugu textbooks used for teaching the Telugu language in schools.
These textbooks, titled “Singidi-1” for Class IX and “Singidi-2” for Class X, were published by the Government of Telangana and have been part of the curriculum to provide comprehensive Telugu language education.
However, “Vennela Telugu” is a programme meant to teach the Telugu language in a simplified manner.
The purpose is to make the subject easier and more engaging for students to understand. It is being seen as the Telangana government’s initiative to promote a simpler form of the Telugu language.
The order comes at a time when the Tamil Nadu is in a clash with the Union government over the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, that mandates a three-language policy in school education.
According to NEP guidelines, schools should teach the local/regional language, English as the second language, and any other Indian language, preferably Hindi for non-Hindi-speaking states.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil with inputs from R Pridhviraj.)
