Andhra Pradesh government recently decided to convert all the government schools using Telugu as medium of instruction to English. I am not sure who advised this but it is completely against the expert opinion in this matter. However, I will not doubt the intentions of those who took the decision. It is typical of people belonging to former British colonies to believe that only English is suitable for education, and learning it is a must to secure jobs. This is the reason why most parents send their children to English medium schools in former British colonies. With the exception of Government schools, there are hardly any Telugu Medium schools left in Andhra Pradesh. Let us now delve a little more deeper into the issue to understand it better.
I don’t want to make this into a cultural issue or an issue related to the survival of language. The only thing that bothers me is quality of education that our kids are going to get
It is typical of people belonging to former British colonies to believe that only English language is suitable for education
In order to understand the issue better, it is necessary to know answers to a few important questions. They are:
I will analyse each of these questions, so you can get a clear understanding on the whole subject.
The reason why English has become compulsory is not because of the nature of the jobs
Whether we like it or not, the situation at the moment is more or less that way. If we leave small jobs aside, for all the higher level jobs English has become almost compulsory. But, the reason why English has become compulsory is not because of the nature of the jobs, but our system. I say this because, these jobs are done in their native tongues in many other developed countries. For example, in countries such as China, Japan, Israel, France and Germany, software engineers do not need English. All their education takes place in their respective mother tongues. So the problem here is our system and not the nature of jobs. British imposed English on us and we have been continuing it.
However, I will not be going deep into this matter at the moment. Whatever might be the reason, it has become a necessity to have basic knowledge in English language for securing better jobs. Now let’s move on to the second point.
Definitely not. We have lakhs of examples to back this up. Today, in countries like United States there are many working as software engineers who were educated in their mother tongue. Likewise, many of us can speak more than one language. For example, many people in Hyderabad can speak Hindi, apart from Telugu. Did those people study in Hindi medium? No, isn’t it?
Requirement is basic spoken/written english and it can be taught without imposing english as medium of instruction
So, to get proficiency in a language, that language need not be the medium of instruction. Similarly to have proficiency in English, using English as medium of instruction is not mandatory. It is enough to teach “Spoken English” at school level, for that. By doing so we can teach children the English language, while using mother tongue as medium of instruction. So far as technical terminology is concerned, using the English terminology along with Telugu (or Mother Tongue), during teaching will solve this problem.
Here, we need to know another important point. Without the strong foundations of one’s own mother tongue, it is impossible to learn any other language. Which means, even to learn English language, it is important to learn mother tongue. All the research done on this topic indicates the same. UNESCO an arm of United Nations Organization (UNO) has conclusively stated the same in their report on this particular subject. This is primarily the reason why many, in spite of studying in English medium schools from the childhood, are not acquiring even basic proficiency in English. Most of these are not even good in their mother tongue. That means our Education system is producing crores of people without proficiency in any language. And, how is it possible to acquire knowledge without reasonable command on a language? This is one of the biggest problems that our country is facing at the moment.
Research by unesco, unicef etc proved that teaching in mother tongue is superior to english
Now let’s get to the third and most important point. The primary goal of a teacher is to make sure that children understand what is being taught. For this it is must that the language being used is understood by both teacher and student. Without it, no matter how great the instructor or the student is, there is no use. For obvious reasons when a classroom teacher uses the mother tongue to teach, the child will understand the subject better. All the research done on this topic also indicates the same. The UNESCO and UNICEF of the United Nations Organization (UNO) in their reports have confirmed the same beyond any doubt. The reports titled “Enhancing Learning of Children from Diverse back grounds”, “The impact of language policy and practice on children’s learning: Evidence from Eastern and Southern Africa” are available over internet for anyone who wants to study.
I have done my own research on this particular subject. I have taken into account all the countries with a population of more than 10 lakhs (Total 168). Let me put forward some of the interesting findings from my research.
98% of nobel prizes went to countries with mother tongue as medium of instruction
Several african countries like ghana, tanzania, zambia are now replacing foreign language with mother tongue as medium of instruction
While, as a result of such research, countries like Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana and many other African countries are slowly coming out foreign language and are starting to teach in their mother tongue, it is unfortunate that we in our country assume that English medium is great and convert the remaining mother tongue medium schools to English.
Therefore, using English or any other foreign language as a medium of instruction is not a right approach. Need of the hour is to explore ways to convert English medium schools to mother tongue medium and not the other way round. English can always be taught as a language with an additional stress on spoken English. I request the Andhra Pradesh Government to rethink its decision, as it will seriously affect the lives of crores of people
English Translation: Sree Kishore Dattu
Note:
1. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
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No one aspires for English. People aspire for jobs. The state deprives people without English of opportunities -- competitive exams, higher education, law, even tax filings. Govt promotes English on one hand and then claims people aspire for English... (These are Sankrant Sanu's words, not mine)
The problem is that when the Author wrote this in his mother tongue only a fraction of Indians could understand it. It had to be translated into English to reach a wider audience!! Also take the examples cited of countries where the medium of instruction is the native language - ALL of the have 1 native (mother) tongue. India is a federation of states each with its own mother tongue. Forget anything else, just to unify the country we need a COMMON language. Should it be Hindi or should it be English?
The translation is not needed to reach wider audience but to reach the elite who only read English. Not even 1% Indians speak quality english. Second reason is that even to criticize English we have to do it in English and people will notice only then. Such is our inferiority complex.
For education mother tongue is the best. Period.
Is implementation going to be easy? NO. Are we not going to have problems? YES. But then it is the same with every thing. Any new change that needs to be brought in, will have issues associated with it.
With the advent of language translation softwares the role of a common language has diminished but it still has a role. For obvious reasons Hindi is the only language that can be a common language for India.
The main reason why advanced science, computer technology is not taught in local language is that there are not many books written on these subjects by experts in local languages. Take the case of India where there are more than 24 languages. First that has to be corrected before preaching that learning with local languages is easy etc.
It's the responsibility of the govt. I hope you have read the article and understood it. I have taken what you said into account and that why said the technical terminology should be taught in English as well along with mother tongue. This will help one in transition to English medium when it is required.
Great...
We will develop as a scientific country only if science is taught in one's own mother tongue.
We have been used to the thought that English medium schools offer good education..
There should be good CBSE schools with mother tongue as the medium of instruction.....
Already set mindset has to be changed slowly but definitely...
I have always preferred local language newspapers to English papers...
It stimulates brain n the message is conveyed in full...
Indians should not become robots ..
They should be living n creative...
Creativeness comes with mother tongue...
Also all languages in India take us to our gods directly...
Our life in this earth is just limited. All living beings born are destined to attain moksha and our mother tongues help us achieve them easily.
I guess none of us want to act but to live to our heart.
A foreign language alienates us from our gods.