“A single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia.” By Thomas Babington Macaulay, a British Historian, ‘Minute on Indian Education’ in 1835.
Known for redefining the education system in India for more than seven decades, to say the least. Through his endeavours, he painted the British in every part superior, advanced, aspirational and elite, and anything Indian as inferior, baseless and thus, worthless. He played a pivotal role in introducing English as a medium of instruction and learning in the education system. Having immense faith and pride in British greatness and achievements in literature, science and even arts, he wished for the government to impart British education – sans oriental education, through a ‘Downward Filtration policy’ meaning teaching the elite only for them to teach the masses. The larger goal was, “(to create) a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals and in intellect.”
After all these years of Independence, India still felt and carried the hangover of this colonial practice, which detached us from our traditions, values, and history – basically, our roots.
Right to Education Act, 2009, Chapter V, Section 29(f) states, “the medium of instructions shall, as far as practicable, be in child’s mother tongue.” Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and a majority of the schools are under the domain of the States/UTs.
In 2020, India set to bring about ground-breaking changes in this very system that held back many children from reaching their full potential. National Education Policy marked a milestone that aimed to make it more inclusive, empowering and eradicating the previous Macaulayism system. Para 4.11 of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 commits to education through local/regional language as a medium of instruction in public and private schools up to class 5; if accepted, till class 8 and beyond, and whenever and whenever possible. Sanskrit will be offered at all levels and taught with the use of Sanskrit Knowledge Systems, in particular, through phonetics and pronunciation. Sanskrit textbooks at the foundational and middle school level may be written in Simple Standard Sanskrit (SSS) to teach Sanskrit through Sanskrit (STS) and make its study truly enjoyable. Additionally, foreign languages like Korean, Japanese, Thai, French, etc will be taught at the secondary level. A three-language policy with at least two of the three languages will be native to India. In particular, students who wish to change one or more of the three languages they are studying may do so in Grade 6 or 7, as long as they demonstrate basic proficiency in three languages (including one language of India at the literature level) by the end of secondary school. Under the ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’ initiative, sometime in Grades 6-8, students will participate in a fun project/activity on ‘The Languages of India’ to learn everything about a specific language, right from phonetics, history, culture, community, influence, stories, etc. However, the policy mentions that no language will be imposed on the student. High-quality textbooks in science, mathematics, etc will be made available in regional languages. If not, then teaching language will be the home language/mother-tongue wherever possible. This is suggested and reemphasised by the NIPUN Bharat Mission of the GOI and NISHTHA Foundational Literacy and Numeracy. As per Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2020-21, there are 28 languages* in which teaching-learning is going on in grades (1-5).
Why is there a need for education through regional language? In a time of globalisation, shouldn’t English be the right choice?
All of this showcases the effectiveness of teaching in languages that students are most comfortable with – the regional language/mother tongue.
Author : Anisha Chavan
Author Description : Anisha Chavan is an award-winning Writer celebrated for her diverse portfolio with prominent national and international companies. She’s passionate about governance, international relations and politics. If you are wondering, I have won three international awards for my writing and I have more than 40 articles written on me and my work.
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