The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 has introduced a multitude of revolutionary changes to overhaul the educational sector; most of which have been progressive and long sought after, like, multidisciplinary learning in higher education, common college entrance test and an assurance to spend six percent of the GDP on education.
Irrespective of the goodies awaiting implementation, it has erred on a significant front, i.e., making the local regional language instead of English as the only medium of instruction through the primary school; this is parochial and a sheer promotion of linguistic nationalism.
Actually, such a policy decision reflects the conflict which has been here for decades now and is based on misplaced national pride, anti-colonial pique, ill-informed sentiment, fuelled by populist politics, and this is often used by politicians whose own progenies have enjoyed the benefits of English education. Sometimes, the rant against English education goes to the extent of terming it as the preserve and privilege of the higher class people.
The story of the linguistic feud goes deeper and older with the fact that, much against the disapproval and agony of the prevalent time, the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru trudged a difficult path to include English as one of India’s official languages. And he wasn’t wrong, as this decision yielded rich dividends much more than the expectation. It is pretty much paradoxical that, in a sharp contrast from the infamous British colonial rule, English has gained popularity to the extent of almost becoming the actual global lingua franca, dictating international business, cultural activities, politics and both dissemination and creation of knowledge.
Much of the soft power India possesses today including its dominant position in the domain of information technology, pharmaceuticals, retail, education, health sector is because of the knowledge of English. Distinct from the other developing countries, it has succeeded in providing or exporting these high-end services which has proved to be helpful to its economy.
From the beginning to the late 1990s, while China’s economy was represented through its factories, India was busy running the comparatively glamorous call centres, which attracted a lot of young, spirited and ambitious English-speaking graduates from rural to urban areas. The post-independence era saw a surge in establishment of technical educational hubs which created a precious deposit of English-speaking and efficient human resource, mostly engineers which sort of made an ambience for a beeline of foreign investment from multinational companies, who were in search of cheap but good quality skilled labour.
In many ways, English has made crucial contributions to national development, which people in power at times fail to acknowledge mainly for political reasons and to satiate populist outcries. The prevalence of English across most part of the globe made it easier for Indians to seek knowledge freely and widely, amalgamate swiftly and easily, travel, live and work in larger portions of the world, which in return led to the growth of a vibrant Indian diaspora. Apart from this, unlike our other Asian counterparts, this has made it lot more feasible and comfortable on our part to sell our ideas, negotiate businesses and compete globally with an unparalleled vigour and efficiency made possible by our proficiency in English language among other distinct traits we have.
Linguistic nationalism is fatal for a country like us, whose economy to a considerable extent thrives on high-end services and which necessitates us to speak to people from foreign countries on day-to-day basis and when Hindi is yet to find the much required acceptance in south-India, so English practically is the lingua franca.
English has historically been such a liberating factor for many Indians, who have successfully climbed up multiple steps in the social ladder within the span of a generation or two. However, we have still not been able to fully percolate the privilege of quality education, including English education to the lowest strata of the society; as a result, we have not been able to escalate our growth in the services sector, to the extent to which we would otherwise have risen.
It is a myth that children learn better in their mother tongues. This argument has belied the actual fact and is without any scientific basis, since mother tongues are not inherited genetically. Rather, the truth is languages are learnt with much better proficiency by children around the tender age, i.e., three to five years. Which means to develop proficiency in any language, including English, it should be taught to them at the preschool level.
The fact remains while we may boast a lot about regional pride or ride high on linguistic nationalism, by the time one graduates out of the university, the struggle for learning the inevitable English language appears to be tougher than the quest for the knowledge in the concerned subject.
This is, therefore, an idea which shall further deepen the crack between the two Indias, one, the affluent and well to do India that can afford elite English medium education; and another India, that suffers at the hands of poverty, malnutrition and often drops out of schools.
China has by far been one of the most culturally and socially protectionist countries in the world, whose penchant for adhering to mandarin medium of education knew know limitation, but off late it has began to realise the handicap it has to face to compete and succeed in the International market and has now steered the drive for opening a record number of English medium international schools.
The truth remains, the NEP’s insistence on regional languages through primary school shall therefore put students in a disadvantageous position in the university and this shall be repugnant to the idea of competition for jobs in the global market or in the race to pursue higher education abroad; and shall weaken our own future generations and future leadership and dilute our subtle power over the rest of the world in competing, bargaining and succeeding in various sectors of economy and international relationship.
(The writer is a lawyer and public policy expert. sjyotiranjan3@gmail.com.)