Bhubaneswar, Jan. 19: Utkal University of Culture is going to conduct a six-month certificate course in Tamil on its campus from February 15. Open to all, the course will aim to teach the basics of speaking, reading and writing Tamil.

The university has received a grant of Rs 10 lakh from the Tamil Development Directorate of the Tamil Nadu Government for the purpose, said vice-chancellor Amiya Pattanayak.

“This course is the first of its kind in the state. The idea behind this is to reach out to the 200-odd Tamil families of the city and give the children a scope to learn their mother tongue,” he added.

The university has invited applications from interested candidates from January 25 to February 1. It will also offer a monthly scholarship of Rs 200 for persons enrolling for the course. The classes would be held during the morning hours on Sundays and other public holidays.

“We are expecting around 30 candidates. Depending on the number, study materials and instructors would be provided by the directorate. If necessary, classes will be held on Saturday afternoons too,” said Pattanayak.

The vice-chancellor said the benefits of learning Tamil were many: “After going through the basics of the language, one can enjoy the rich, classical Tamil literary works (Sangam). Engineers and software professionals can learn the language and put it into practice if they are posted in Tamil-speaking areas. Other than that, persons interested to learn new languages can also make use of this opportunity.”

Earlier, plans to introduce a short-term course in Korean were dropped by the university since the proposal of South Korean Pohang Steel Company (POSCO) to set up their industry is still pending approval.

“As of now, the plans have been shelved. We will take up Korean language classes only if Posco manages to seal the deal with the state government,” said Pattanayak.