BENGALURU: The Karnataka assembly on Tuesday passed a bill to make Kannada the medium of instruction in all government and aided schools up to class 5. It also voted another piece of legislation to ensure students are taught Kannada as a subject from classes 1 to 10.The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, was amended and tabled in the house as the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2015. The original act facilitates free and compulsory primary education in a child's mother tongue or Kannada. The amended legislation replaces the clause that mandates the government to provide primary education "as far as possible in mother tongue or Kannada"; it clarifies the medium of instruction will be Kannada.The assembly also passed the Kannada Language Learning Bill, 2015, to ensure that all students in classes 1 to 10 are taught Kannada as a compulsory language in a phased manner from 2015-16. An officer not below the rank of deputy director of public instruction will ensure the implementation of the new language learning policy.The bill making Kannada a compulsory subject covers CBSE, ICSE and international schools, too. Replying to the debate, chief minister Siddaramaiah said he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and requested him to bring a Constitution amendment that would enable the states to impart education in their respective languages. This is because sometimes laws enacted by the states do not stand scrutiny in courts."I am ready to lead a delegation of all CMs. I am going to raise the issue in the forthcoming National Development Council meeting,'' Siddaramaiah said. Opposition leader Jagadish Shettar said even if the assembly passes the bill, it will require the President's assent.