Does NEP Propagate Hindi Imposition? Debate Over State's Language Policy Continues

The debate over 바카라�Hindi Imposition바카라� through education started with the Kothari Commission Report on education and national development in 1966. For both Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu바카라�the ruling DMK and its rival AIADMK opposing 바카라�Hindi바카라� have been one of the most important issues.

The controversy recently resurfaced after the draft New Education Policy was released for public consultation on 31 May 2019. The Centre then revised it and clarified that there is no compulsion of language in NEP 2020. 

Following the release of NEP on 29 July 2020, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had described it as an attempt to 바카라�impose Hindi and Sanskrit바카라�. Karnataka too registered a formal protest, with Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah calling the draft a brutal assault on the states.  

Meanwhile, Hindi-speaking states also failed to offer students the option of studying other Indian languages. In states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, often the third-language option provided is Sanskrit. NEP 2020 reinstated the value of Sanskrit by offering it as an option in the three-language formula. 바카라�Sanskrit will thus be offered at all levels of school and higher education, as an important, enriching option for students, including as an option in the three-language formula.바카라� 

 

바카라�I am from UP and studied in a private school following the UP state board curriculum. Except for central schools, we rarely get any other Indian language to learn, be it in private or state-government schools. There aren바카라�t many instructors for Kannada, Malayalam or Marathi,바카라� so eventually 바카라�we are left with Sanskrit as the third language option,바카라� said Brijesh Kumar, MA student at Delhi University. 

There바카라�s some support for the NEP among the liberal commentariat. Prominent among them is Yogendra Yadav, who called it 바카라�a step forward바카라�. In various articles and videos on social media, he has said, 바카라�바카라�nowhere does the draft NEP take a Hindi-chauvinist position, while it simply repeats the three-language formula바카라�. Nevertheless, he also pointed out how Hindi-belt states avoided teaching other Indian languages. 

Another debate that NEP has engendered is around 바카라�the medium of instruction바카라�. 바카라�The policy says, until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, it will be the home language/mother-tongue/local language/regional language. Thereafter, the home/local language shall continue to be taught as a language wherever possible. This will be followed by both public and private schools.바카라�  

Many students and teachers have pointed out that learning two additional languages after Grade 3, over and above the mother tongue, puts an additional burden on students. Also, the focus on mother tongue would keep many students from marginalised backgrounds in disadvantaged positions against their peers, who can afford to study in English-medium schools. 

Abhishek Kumar, a Delhi-based teacher and former student of St Stephen바카라�s College, said the English language has emancipatory potential. 바카라�After learning English, I can now be better placed in society, because English-speaking is valued in India," said Kumar, who is a Dalit.

Kumar pointed out that, since he comes from a Hindi-medium background, he had to struggle a lot. 바카라�Learning in the mother tongue is fine, but English is a necessity. I had to struggle a lot with my language skills to become confident in life.바카라�  

Indian parents don바카라�t prefer that their kids study in vernacular schools. Though enrolment in private schools declined from 32.5 per cent in 2018 to 28.8 per cent in 2020 between ages 6-14 years, a majority in urban areas chose private schools due to the 바카라�English medium바카라� tag. 바카라�English is a necessity, and only English medium schools can teach it better. Schools that instruct in local languages are often poorly maintained,바카라� says Akriti Verma, a mother of a 5-year-old boy. 

Others argue that the medium of instruction must be the mother tongue, as it helps children grasp concepts better. Sonam Wangchuk, the founder of the Students바카라� Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh, who himself was educated in his mother tongue till the age of nine, wrote on Twitter바카라� 바카라�I have no problem with English as a language of communication. But the medium of instruction for children is the key to grasp concepts in understanding the world, key even to learning other languages... like English.바카라� 

This idea in NEP is echoed by other eminent personalities like economist Arvind Panagariya, who learned English later in life, and supports the idea of teaching in the mother tongue because it helps students grasp concepts better. 

Teaching in the mother tongue itself is not a new idea. Article 350A clearly says that a state ought to facilitate learning in the mother tongue. 바카라�It shall be the endeavour of every state and local authority within a state to provide adequate facilities for instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage of education to children belonging to linguistic minority groups.바카라� The Right to Education, 2009, also echoed that mother tongue should be preferred as 바카라�medium of instruction바카라�. 

However, there is a paucity of teachers who know tribal or local languages. Members of some of the tribes have themselves forgotten their own languages, for instance, the vulnerable tribe Sahariya. Another big challenge that puts minority languages in a disadvantaged position is that in order to qualify as a mother tongue, a language needs to be spoken by more than 10,000 people. Otherwise, it is classified as a minority language.   

A senior government official, on condition of anonymity, said, 바카라�The problem is with implementation. States are reluctant to recognise minority languages, and have almost zero human resources to make these languages as 바카라�medium of Instruction바카라�. Take for example the Ghumantu tribes. They have their own language and dialects. But the State can바카라�t provide them with education in their language. Despite all this, the move is a good move, as at least it attempts to promote mother tongues.바카라�