The NDA government has completed a month in office and newspapers are filled with the month that was. Increasingly I see that most news stories are this - speculations, records etc. It is about what was or what will be. Seldom of what is, and what should be done.
Digressions apart, I am sure most of you will be aware of the recent controversy regarding the directive to the ministers issued by the PMO stating that Hindi should be given a priority over English as the language of use when writing on social media. This sparked of a huge debate, no surprises there, about the practicality of such a move. On one hand there were the Guardians of Indian Heritage saying that Hindi, being the National Language, it was only proper to use it before others. On the other hand were the progressive thinkers saying that Hindi didn't unite the north, east, west and south of India like English did and that it was more prudent to use English. But I think the question to see here is our Ministers' and bureaucrats' competency in either language. It is essential to be articulate in speech, a direct by product of a good understanding of the language of communication. Shashi Tharoor speaking in English makes sense, Mulayam Singh or Lalu Prasad trying to do the same is a redundant effort because they will not get the point across. Whether our politicians have to will for such clarity is another question. I will ignore it for now.
The English v/s Indian language debate has been often played out, with parents from all backgrounds scrambling to get their children enrolled in English medium schools. That is an apparently natural step to growth and development at a micro level. Increasingly, Vernacular medium schools have shut down and admissions in these schools drop drastically. But before we seek to 'modernize' our education system and bring it at par with western schools, I think we need to step back and think what good education means.
I am Gujarati and as a kid, everyday I would come home from school and get my day's work re-learnt from my elder brother or my mother. This was done because of the simple reason that I being in a convent, everything was taught in English and to understand concepts to their very core, I needed them to be simplified and taught in my own language. I grew up speaking English and now I even do my thinking in the same language. I thought that was enough to now be taught new concepts in this adopted language but it wasn't so. In junior college, accounts in college were taught in impeccable English, those at the tuition in a mix of Hindi and Gujarati. It is the latter that polished my basics. This proves that the language of your parents, your mother tongue is inevitably and very closely linked with your understanding of the world around you. And I am not the only example, I know many kids who do.
One may argue that A new generation of parents has cropped up or is cropping up. Those who studied with English as their first language. But can the absolute efficiency of these English speakers be taken on face value? Conversing fluently with correct pronunciation and grammar is one thing, understanding the language intrinsically, quite another. You could try this out for yourself - take a paragraph explaining Quantum Mechanics in English, simplified. Then read the same in your native language.
The problem magnifies when the parents who don't know the language themselves. It creates a huge parent - child divide and has a negative impact on imparting the correct attitudes to a child. How do you correct him if you will never know he is wrong? Communication gaps will arise. And I am not even bothering with the cultural aspect of this - speaking a foreign language, and English is foreign no doubt about that, disconnects you from ground reality. It is not hardwired into your system, just an external attachment.Time is up to make a clear distinction between literacy and education. It is fine to measure national literacy using a unifying measurement, but for education - we need to take a more focused approach over the one-size-fits-all.
Speaking of India specifically, our English is as screwed up as our sense of identity and it would be a good time to chose a side and then master that. English is essential no doubt to maintain the global advantage. But if it comes at the price of losing understanding of what we are taught, of rote learning for the exams and then forgetting the meaning behind these, is a waste of precious years. Combine this very neurological shortcoming with average teachers, huge classrooms, parents who can't wait to send you off to tuition - I think India is will have to look forward to a really messed up future. There is a need for correction in this system - it could be done at the school or home level. What is important is that people understand this issue. Or it will turn out to be like the Internet, no one knows how it works, we just know how to operate it according to a set of rules. Language was never that, and it never should be. It is the primary mode of expression, it should be a part of us. It is about our cognitive development, the strength of the Human Race. If we fuck with this, all too soon, robots won't be needed. Humans will be available.
Digressions apart, I am sure most of you will be aware of the recent controversy regarding the directive to the ministers issued by the PMO stating that Hindi should be given a priority over English as the language of use when writing on social media. This sparked of a huge debate, no surprises there, about the practicality of such a move. On one hand there were the Guardians of Indian Heritage saying that Hindi, being the National Language, it was only proper to use it before others. On the other hand were the progressive thinkers saying that Hindi didn't unite the north, east, west and south of India like English did and that it was more prudent to use English. But I think the question to see here is our Ministers' and bureaucrats' competency in either language. It is essential to be articulate in speech, a direct by product of a good understanding of the language of communication. Shashi Tharoor speaking in English makes sense, Mulayam Singh or Lalu Prasad trying to do the same is a redundant effort because they will not get the point across. Whether our politicians have to will for such clarity is another question. I will ignore it for now.
The English v/s Indian language debate has been often played out, with parents from all backgrounds scrambling to get their children enrolled in English medium schools. That is an apparently natural step to growth and development at a micro level. Increasingly, Vernacular medium schools have shut down and admissions in these schools drop drastically. But before we seek to 'modernize' our education system and bring it at par with western schools, I think we need to step back and think what good education means.
I am Gujarati and as a kid, everyday I would come home from school and get my day's work re-learnt from my elder brother or my mother. This was done because of the simple reason that I being in a convent, everything was taught in English and to understand concepts to their very core, I needed them to be simplified and taught in my own language. I grew up speaking English and now I even do my thinking in the same language. I thought that was enough to now be taught new concepts in this adopted language but it wasn't so. In junior college, accounts in college were taught in impeccable English, those at the tuition in a mix of Hindi and Gujarati. It is the latter that polished my basics. This proves that the language of your parents, your mother tongue is inevitably and very closely linked with your understanding of the world around you. And I am not the only example, I know many kids who do.
One may argue that A new generation of parents has cropped up or is cropping up. Those who studied with English as their first language. But can the absolute efficiency of these English speakers be taken on face value? Conversing fluently with correct pronunciation and grammar is one thing, understanding the language intrinsically, quite another. You could try this out for yourself - take a paragraph explaining Quantum Mechanics in English, simplified. Then read the same in your native language.
The problem magnifies when the parents who don't know the language themselves. It creates a huge parent - child divide and has a negative impact on imparting the correct attitudes to a child. How do you correct him if you will never know he is wrong? Communication gaps will arise. And I am not even bothering with the cultural aspect of this - speaking a foreign language, and English is foreign no doubt about that, disconnects you from ground reality. It is not hardwired into your system, just an external attachment.Time is up to make a clear distinction between literacy and education. It is fine to measure national literacy using a unifying measurement, but for education - we need to take a more focused approach over the one-size-fits-all.
Speaking of India specifically, our English is as screwed up as our sense of identity and it would be a good time to chose a side and then master that. English is essential no doubt to maintain the global advantage. But if it comes at the price of losing understanding of what we are taught, of rote learning for the exams and then forgetting the meaning behind these, is a waste of precious years. Combine this very neurological shortcoming with average teachers, huge classrooms, parents who can't wait to send you off to tuition - I think India is will have to look forward to a really messed up future. There is a need for correction in this system - it could be done at the school or home level. What is important is that people understand this issue. Or it will turn out to be like the Internet, no one knows how it works, we just know how to operate it according to a set of rules. Language was never that, and it never should be. It is the primary mode of expression, it should be a part of us. It is about our cognitive development, the strength of the Human Race. If we fuck with this, all too soon, robots won't be needed. Humans will be available.
