Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government on Tuesday ordered a probe into an English medium missionary school for allegedly punishing two students for speaking in their mother tongue Telugu.
The two Class 3 students were allegedly made to go around in the school with slates hanging from their necks declaring "I'll never speak Telugu". Parents and groups working for the promotion of Telugu allege the St Joseph's English Medium School in Mydukur town of Kadapa district humiliated the students on Monday.
School Education Minister D Manikya Varaprasad on Tuesday told reporters that he had ordered a probe into the incident. "If the management is found guilty, we will derecognise the school and if a teacher or principal is responsible, we will advise the management to sack him/her," he said.
The two children’s mothers, who carried lunch for them, said they saw the children going around the school premises with the slates hanging around their necks. The two told their mothers that their teacher was angry at them for not following her order to speak only in English during the class.
Mandal (block) education officer Sukhavanam and other local officials rushed to the school and admonished the school authorities.
Meanwhile, the management of the school has tendered an apology to the parents of the two students. It also promised to take necessary action to prevent such incidents in future.
Telugu Bhasha Parirakshana Samithi, a group working for the protection and promotion of Telugu language, petitioned the State Human Rights Commission to intervene and take stern action against the school authorities.
Telugu is the official language of Andhra Pradesh, which has a population of about 80 million.
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