{"id":3928,"date":"2022-09-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/current_affairs\/uncategorized\/09-09-2022\/medium-of-instruction-in-schools\/"},"modified":"2022-09-09T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-09-09T00:00:00","slug":"medium-of-instruction-in-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/09-09-2022\/medium-of-instruction-in-schools","title":{"rendered":"Medium of Instruction in Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size:13pt\"><span style=\"font-family:\"Book Antiqua\",serif\"><strong>In News<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Over the years, there has been a raging debate over the need for children to have their mother tongue as the medium of instruction in schools.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:13pt\"><span style=\"font-family:\"Book Antiqua\",serif\"><strong>Background\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>The mother tongue, home language or the first language<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"> educationally means the language which the <\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>child is using to connect to the world<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">, to people, to nature, to the environment, and to make sense of everything that\u2019s going on.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>The first language<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"> is the language that you speak and think in, and if you learn to read and write and understand the world through that language, that is what gives you the proficiency and confidence to be able to read and write a <\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>second language<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"> which can be the state language, and a <\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>third language<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"> which should be English.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:13pt\"><span style=\"font-family:\"Book Antiqua\",serif\"><strong>Arguments in favour of mother tongue<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Educationists have emphasised the importance of learning in the mother tongue to <\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>enhance a child\u2019s learning and overcome glaring inequities<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>The National Education Policy 2020<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"> says the home language, mother tongue, local language, or regional language wherever possible should be the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>There is an almost-complete consensus<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"> among educationists, linguistic experts and psychologists that the mother tongue or the language of the region where the child lives is the <\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>only appropriate language<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"> of learning for the child.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">A child can be taught any number of languages particularly later in life but the medium of learning should be the mother tongue.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">This is the language which <\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">helps the child to build, grow and develop in every way.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:13pt\"><span style=\"font-family:\"Book Antiqua\",serif\"><strong>Arguments in favour of English<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">There has been an equally <\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>steady demand<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"> for English-medium schools in <\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>several States<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>NEP\u2019s overall philosophy of the privatisation of education<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"> and marketisation with no regulatory control to the state would tilt towards English.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">There are a growing number of schools, mostly private, that teach in English.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>Tamil Nadu was one of the earliest States to start English-medium learning<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"> in a very big way.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>Government schools too in States like Tamil Nadu<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"> unable to bear the pressure from parents and to stop students from migrating to private schools, are switching to English medium.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>Millions are languishing<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"> because of their inability to learn in English not English as a language but as a medium through which they acquire any knowledge of any subject.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">English is their dream and their despair.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:13pt\"><span style=\"font-family:\"Book Antiqua\",serif\"><strong>Challenges with Indian learning system<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>India has constructed an education system that is among the most exclusionary in the world<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">: The impulse behind this is excluding the vast majority from all opportunities except the lowest and the least-paying jobs.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Every component of education, curriculum, testing and certifying methods, and each and every rule of the game is crafted for <\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>fulfilling this class purpose<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>There are political forces especially Dalit groups who insist that English has been the language of liberation for them<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">They look at it like that because of the denial and the deprivation of Dalits in the education system, and <\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>that\u2019s important to acknowledge<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>Learning outcomes<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">: Is a denial of children\u2019s rights, because the NEP too says that it will not focus on inputs and only on outcomes.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:13pt\"><span style=\"font-family:\"Book Antiqua\",serif\"><strong>Way Forward\/ Suggestions\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>We don\u2019t have a language policy. We take ad hoc decisions<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">. The three language formula also doesn\u2019t look too much at the pedagogical aspects.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">It is important to have a well understood, pedagogically considered language policy.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>Reading and writing are different <\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">from learning to speak, understand, listen, or think in, and the <\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>first language they learn to read and write in is critical<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>We don\u2019t want any classroom to be based on instruction<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"> which is a very didactic, authoritative term; it should instead be interactive, and a transaction.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>In many places in our country there are bilingual and multilingual classrooms<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>In Jharkhand<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"> the state might say Hindi is the language but 50%-60% of children don\u2019t speak the language.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>Multilingualism<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"> gives equal status to all languages and there\u2019s enough work, history and research on this.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>Myth must be broken that our education system is class and caste neutral<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">: a powerful political movement will have to take place to make the language of learning a choice that is made democratically.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"margin-left:-7px\">\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" style=\"border-collapse:collapse; border:none; width:616px\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border-bottom:1px solid #000000; border-left:1px solid #000000; border-right:1px solid #000000; border-top:1px solid #000000; vertical-align:top; width:616px\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size:13pt\"><span style=\"font-family:\"Book Antiqua\",serif\"><strong>Evolution of Education Policy:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">University Education Commission (1948-49)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Secondary Education Commission (1952-53)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Education Commission (1964-66) under Dr D. S. Kothari<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">National Policy on Education, 1968<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">42nd Constitutional Amendment, 1976- Education in Concurrent List<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:13pt\"><span style=\"font-family:\"Book Antiqua\",serif\"><strong>Constitutional Provisions:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>Article 45 and Article 39 (f) of Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP)<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">, has a provision for state-funded as well as equitable and accessible education. Education is in the concurrent list.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">The\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>86th Amendment in 2002<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">\u00a0made education an enforceable\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>right under Article 21-A.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">\u00a0aims to provide primary education to all children aged 6 to 14 years and enforces education as a Fundamental Right. It mandates 25% reservation for disadvantaged sections of the society.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\"><span style=\"font-size:13pt\"><span style=\"font-family:\"Book Antiqua\",serif\"><strong>Salient features of the NEP 2020<\/strong><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:13pt\"><span style=\"font-family:\"Book Antiqua\",serif\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>School Education<\/strong><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Ensuring Universal Access at all levels of school education<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Early Childhood Care &#038; Education with\u00a0 new Curricular and Pedagogical Structure<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Attaining Foundational Literacy and Numeracy<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Reforms in school curricula and pedagogy<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Multilingualism and the power of language<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Assessment Reforms<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Equitable and Inclusive Education<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Robust Teacher Recruitment and Career Path<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">School Governance<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Standard-setting and Accreditation for School Education<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>Higher Education<\/strong><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Increase GER to 50 % by 2035<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Holistic Multidisciplinary Education<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Regulation<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Rationalised Institutional Architecture<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Motivated, Energized, and Capable Faculty<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Teacher Education<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Mentoring Mission<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Financial support for students<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Open and Distance Learning<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Online Education and Digital Education<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Technology in education<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Promotion of Indian languages<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">Professional Education<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>Adult Education:<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">\u00a0Policy\u00a0aims to achieve\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>100%\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">youth and adult literacy.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>Financing Education:<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">\u00a0The Centre and the States will work together to increase the public investment in the Education sector to reach<\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><strong>\u00a06%<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-size:12pt\">\u00a0of GDP at the earliest.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:\"Book Antiqua\",serif\"><strong>Source: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/should-the-mother-tongue-or-english-be-the-medium-of-instruction\/article65867727.ece\" style=\"text-decoration-line:none\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-size:12pt\"><span style=\"font-family:\"Book Antiqua\",serif\"><span style=\"color:#1155cc\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In News Over the years, there has been a raging debate over the need for children to have their mother tongue as the medium of instruction in schools. Background\u00a0 The mother tongue, home language or the first language educationally means the language which the child is using to connect to the world, to people, to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[31,30],"class_list":["post-3928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs","tag-government-policies-interventions","tag-gs-2"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2570240Screenshot_20220909-213028_Files.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}