Over 1,000 Urdu students forced to abandon language each year in Palakkad

EVERY year, over a thousand students in Palakkad district pass their SSLC examinations with Urdu as their first language.

- SHYAM P V @Palakkad

EVERY year, over a thousand students in Palakkad district pass their SSLC examinations with Urdu as their first language. Yet, shockingly, not a single higher secondary school in the district offers Urdu as a subject. For 35 long years, ever since the introduction of the Plus-II system in 1990-91, this denial of choice has forced students who study Urdu till tenth standard to abandon the language of their choice and accept other languages.

"On an average, 1,200 students clear 10th standard learning Urdu. However, they are forced to choose schools in other districts if they want to learn the language further in the higher secondary classes. During the pre-degree era, there were numerous colleges teaching Urdu. This is a systemic discrimination towards these students," Kerala Urdu Teachers Association (KUTA) state vice-president Lt. P Hamza told TNIE.