Bengaluru: The government has decided to make Kannada a mandatory subject in all the higher education institutions in the State. The members also decided to include the National Service Scheme (NSS) as part of the exam valuation procedure in all universities. These decisions were taken at the meeting of the Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KSHEC) here on Wednesday. Minister for Higher Education and Tourism R V Deshpande along with Vice Chancellors of several universities across the state, took part in the meeting.

L Hanumanthiah, president, Kannada Development Authority had earlier mooted the proposal and suggested that it take effect from the academic year 2015-16 itself.

The State government has already amended the Right to Education Act this year, seeking to include Kannada as a subject throughout schooling. According to officials in the KSHEC, it was decided that Kannada would be taught in all the colleges affiliated to all universities in the State. The language would be taught for four semesters in graduation, as per the decision.

In other decisions, the meeting announced that all the universities should follow uniform rules for awarding PhD and M Phil. In order to increase enrolment in higher education in all universities, the admissions would be increased by 15 per cent.

Among two other significant proposals in the meeting, it was suggested that the government adopt Human Rights course as one of the subject in all the undergraduate technical colleges.

Along with this, a discussion was also held on Bangalore University’s decision not to allow private PUC candidates to get admitted to the university-affiliated colleges. However, there was no confirmation about any decision taken in this regard.