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Starting from the 2025–26 academic year, all schools affiliated with CBSE, ICSE, IB, and other boards must include Telugu in their curriculum for classes 1 through 10, the Telangana govt said
To accommodate students from other states, schools are permitted to offer a ‘simpler Telugu’ curriculum (Representative/File Photo)
The Telangana school education department has issued a notification making Telugu a compulsory subject in schools across the state. Starting from the 2025–26 academic year, all schools affiliated with CBSE, ICSE, IB, and other boards must include Telugu in their curriculum for classes 1 through 10.
To accommodate students from other states, schools are permitted to offer a ‘simpler Telugu’ curriculum. While the decision to make Telugu mandatory was originally passed in 2018, implementation across the state has been inconsistent until now.
The Telangana government stated that the previous administration had failed to implement a 2018 order mandating Telugu as a compulsory subject across schools in the state.
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The decision was announced amid the ongoing controversy over Hindi imposition in Tamil Nadu. Led by Chief Minister MK Stalin, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has alleged that the Centre is imposing Hindi in the state. The DMK claimed that Tamil Nadu’s share of central funds was being linked to the state’s acceptance of the NEP and the controversial 3-language policy, which includes Hindi. Stalin asserted that he would not allow any actions that harm the Tamil language, the state, or its people, so long as he and his party remained in power.
The Centre, however, denied these allegations. BJP state chief Annamalai criticised the DMK’s opposition to the NEP 2020, which mandates a three-language education system including Hindi. He argued that this creates a divide among students. “We will launch an aggressive signature campaign from March 1. The Stalin government is making two classes of students. No one is imposing Hindi, but there should be an option. We are proud of the Tamil language but that does not mean we don’t respect other languages,” the Tamil Nadu BJP chief told News18.
