The Karnataka government has announced a major education reform by expanding its bilingual medium of instruction in government schools, including those in Bengaluru. The policy aims to teach students in both Kannada and English, making public education more appealing to parents.
Starting from the 2026–27 academic year, English-medium classes will be introduced from Class 6 alongside existing Kannada-medium instruction. This move builds on earlier efforts, where bilingual education was already implemented in thousands of primary schools across the state.
According to officials, over 9,500 government schools have already adopted bilingual teaching for Classes 1 to 5. The government now plans to extend this approach to higher classes and Karnataka Public Schools (KPS), which are upgraded institutions designed to improve education quality.
The initiative is driven by a growing demand among parents for English-medium education, which is often associated with better career opportunities. At the same time, the government aims to preserve regional language proficiency by maintaining Kannada as a core medium.
Education experts believe this balanced approach could help bridge the gap between government and private schools, attracting more students to public institutions. However, challenges such as teacher training, resource availability, and curriculum adaptation remain.
Overall, the bilingual education policy represents a significant step toward modernizing Karnataka’s education system while maintaining linguistic and cultural identity.
News as reported
