Bengaluru: The DPI in the state has been told in no uncertain terms to start permitting English medium schools. This comes as a relief and a victory for thousands of unaided schools across the State.

It may be recalled that the state government stopped granting such permissions for classes 1 to 5 in 1994 and this policy has been fought tooth and nail since then by the unaided schools. The government had no option but to grant permission for English schools, especially after the Supreme Court quashed its curative petition on the medium of instruction last week.

In a circular on Monday, the undersecretary of primary education asked DPI officials to ensure enforcement of an interim order by the High Court (dated February 27), as per which the government must grant permission to English-medium schools and process applications (of new as well as existing schools) before March 31. The DPI is, however, yet to clarify whether it would enforce the order from the academic year 2015-16 or push it to the next year.