Telangana makes Telugu compulsory in schools across all CBSE, ICSE, IB, and state boards

Interestingly, Telangana's move to make Telugu mandatory comes at a time when states like Tamil Nadu are vouching for their local language.

Telugu will now be a compulsory subject in all Telangana schools after a notification from the state's education department. All schools connected with the CBSE, ICSE, IB, and other boards are required to incorporate Telugu into their curriculum for classes 1 through 10 beginning with the 2025–2026 academic year.

Schools are allowed to offer a "simpler Telugu" curriculum in order to accommodate students from other states. Although Telugu was first made required in 2018, its implementation has been uneven throughout the state up to this point.

In a detailed explanation by the department, it was said that Telugu teaching should be compulsory in CBSE, ICSE, and IB schools too as per the Telangana (Compulsory Teaching and Learning of Telugu in Schools) Act, 2018.

“Due to various reasons, the previous government did not implement it in schools on a full scale. The new government wishes to implement teaching of Telugu compulsorily in the state and hence the appropriate measures now,” the department said.

According to a statement issued by the government, incorporating simple Telugu would be beneficial for non-native Telugu-speaking students, as well as for students from other states who come for education in the state.

The new order will be applicable from academic year 2025-26 for class 9 students. For class 10 students, it will apply from academic year 2026-27.

Most schools in Telangana are government schools where Telugu instruction and learning is common. However, schools that are not on state boards have largely not been teaching Telugu.

"There is an effort to continue teaching Telugu to the younger generation. It was one of the recommendations made by the Telugu Classical Language Committee long ago,” the education department official said.

Interestingly, Telangana's move to make Telugu mandatory comes at a time when states like Tamil Nadu are vouching for their local language.

In Telangana, more than one-third of the schools are English-medium. “This is not a push away from English but a push towards Telugu. Students in the state should be able to read and write the local language,” an educationist said.