Kannada Engineering Courses Face Bleak Future in Karnataka

Kannada Engineering Courses Face Bleak Future in Karnataka

Last Updated Oct - 11 - 2025, 10:33 AM | Source : Fela News | Visitors : 23

Fourth year without enrolments raises doubts about future of Kannada medium engineering education.

The Karnataka government’s well intentioned plan to promote Kannada medium engineering courses is now almost on the edge of collapse. Four years after its ambitious launch, the program has failed to attract enough students, raising questions on the future of regional language technical education.

Started in 2021, the initiative was meant to make higher education more inclusive by offering engineering degrees in the state’s official language. The government had hoped it will help students from rural and Kannada medium schools to enter into technical careers without facing language barriers. However, enrolment numbers have stayed very low for four years in a row. In many colleges, not even a single student choosed Kannada medium engineering.

Officials and teachers have pointed out many reasons behind this failure. Students are afraid that job opportunities will be less, since most engineering companies and post graduation courses works in English. The lack of proper textbooks and study materials in Kannada also discouraged many. In some institutes, translation work got delayed, leaving libraries almost empty of required technical books.

A striking example came last year when the only student who joined a Kannada medium engineering course requested to move into the English medium class, saying there was no peer support and very little class interaction. Teachers too are struggling from translating complicated engineering terms to managing bilingual lectures without any special training.

Experts believe that while studying in the mother tongue helps in primary level, technical and professional courses needs a better balance between regional identity and global relevance. Unless industries and universities start accepting Kannada based technical learning and more quality resources are made, students will continue preferring English medium programs for better career chances.

The government is reportedly rethinking the scheme. Some colleges are likely to stop Kannada medium admissions next year if the demand remains so poor. Educationists have suggested that instead of full language based courses, a bilingual model could work better, where Kannada is used as an optional aid in teaching.

The slow downfall of Kannada medium engineering courses shows a bigger problem how to save linguistic pride without affecting employability. While the idea came from cultural respect and inclusivity, its implementation clearly needs to be more practical and in tune with today’s education and job realities.
 

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