Speaking
up | Expert panel, too, against going for a foreign language | Hindi likley to be made mandatory till
class VI or VII across country
New Delhi: An expert
committee on language policy is singing the same tune as that of the Human
Resource Development (HRD) ministry. The committee has rejected the idea of
teaching a foreign language as third language. A final decision on scrapping or
continuing with the three-language formula in school curriculum is yet to be
taken. The committee is also mulling over developing a four-language formula.
The language policy
committee was constituted by the HRD ministry in December last year, after the
ministry revoked the decision to teach German as a third language in schools.
The UPA government had
replaced German with Sanskrit as third language. Smriti Irani, after taking
over as HRD minister, felt the need to have a comprehensive language policy in
order to create a clear-cut road map for all regional and classical Indian
languages. The committee is also drawing plans to promote, preserve and develop
Indian languages.
“It is the first time that
languages have not been discussed as English versus Hindi. This time, it is
English versus the rest of the Indian languages,” said a committee member. The
members comprise representatives from across India. All regional representatives
have suggested mandatory learning of regional languages at the school level.
“The problem is that not
many text books are available in Indian languages, making us fall back on
English. States have highlighted that new text books need to be written in
regional languages. There will be a need to train teachers and resource persons
in these regional languages,” said another member.
The committee will also be
highlighting the lack of study material for professional courses in regional
languages. “For an engineering or a management student, there is not enough
study material in Hindi, forcing students to fall back on English. Text books
for all professional courses should be made available in Hindi and other
regional languages,” suggested a member.
The committee has also
reached a consensus on developing and promoting Hindi as a link language and
making it mandatory till class 6 or 7 at schools.
“It has been observed that
in schools in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and other south Indian states, Hindi is not
a part of the curriculum. To develop Hindi as a link language, learning Hindi
will have to become mandatory,” said another member. Currently, English is the
only link language for India. The BJP government, which wants to develop Hindi
as a second link language, plans to train the future generation.
The members were quick to
add in a word of caution and wanted the books to be of scientific temper.
“Languages should be taught scientifically and rationally. It should be
promoted to command respect among readers,” said another member. Besides
teaching, setting up radio stations, television channels, internet portals and
newspapers in Indian languages were also discussed.
The committee is meeting
next month to start the drafting process. “We have received suggestions from
states. The drafting process will soon begin. We will try to submit the report
by the end of this year,” said Professor Kapil Kumar, committee’s chairman.
The suggestions of the
committee will be weaved into the new education policy, the draft report of
which is likely to come up in December this year.
Source | Daily News Analysis | 31 August 2015
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