Wednesday, November 13, 2019

RGUHS introduces Kannada textbook for 1st-yr students

tnn | Nov 11, 2019, 04.30 AM IST

Bengaluru: For the first time, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) has introduced a Kannada textbook for non-Kannadiga first-year students to learn the local language with the help of easy tools.

It was launched on November 5 during a Kannada Rajyotsava event. The university enrols nearly 18,000 students for its MBBS, BDS, pharma, nursing, ayurveda, unani, homeopathy, yoga and naturopathy courses every year. For MBBS and BDS, the number of non-Kannadiga students is over 30-35%. It’s much higher for other courses, with 45-50% of the students coming from other states.

Though learning Kannada was encouraged earlier as well, no textbook was available. “The Balake Kannada textbook has only been introduced to encourage students to learn the language. All colleges affiliated to RGUHS have to appoint a Kannada teacher,” said Dr S Sacchidananda, director, RGUHS. The textbook is likely to be introduced for the current batch (2019-20). Co-authored by Dr PS Shankar and Dr P Mahadevaiah , the bilingual textbook helps students learn basic conversation in Kannada. It also contains medical terminology — including body parts, anatomical structure and symptoms of common disorders — which will enable students to converse with patients.

“The book contains words and small sentences, and also has English meanings. It familiarises students with consonants, vowels and compound consonants. The annexure at the end features medical terms in Kannada. This has to be utilised while teaching,” explained Dr Shankar, professor emeritus, RGUHS.
The students’ association welcomed the move. “It will help medical students, especially during their one-year internship. Learning a new language is always good,” said Dr L N Reddy, president, Resident Doctors’ Association in Karnataka.

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