India moves to end primary teaching in English as Modi unveils major education reforms

[Khan vilatey]

India moves to end primary teaching in English as Modi unveils major education reforms

PM says new national policies will promote Indian languages first, but the opposition says it could jeopardise its 'edge over other countries in employability'

Adam Withnall

32 minutes ago

India will for the first time since independence stop offering primary schools where the main language for teaching is English, the government announced, part of the first major overhaul of national education policy in the country for 34 years.

Prime minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet approved the new National Education Policy on Wednesday afternoon, and the government said it would pave the way for “transformational reforms” in schools and higher education.

Parents and teachers speaking to The Independent largely hailed the measures, which include a commitment to increase spending on education to 6 per cent of GDP and reforms designed to reduce the pressure on children around all-important board exams at 16 and 18.

But the most controversial announcement is that primary schools, both private and government-run, will “where possible” be required to conduct lessons in either the children’s “mother tongue” or “regional language” - in other words, not English.

English-medium schools are traditionally favoured by the more wealthy and middle class Indian families, with proficiency in the language seen as opening up gateways to greater international opportunities for higher education and beyond.

By contrast, Mr Modi said the new policy would “promote Indian languages”, a move which is likely to be welcomed by the prime minister’s nationalist base. Indian media reported that the RSS, the far-right youth wing of the ruling BJP party, was heavily involved in drafting the policy and that many of its suggestions were adopted.

But the plan stops short of naming Hindi as a recommended language for schools to teach in, something that had featured in a draft version published in June last year. While Hindi is spoken by an estimated 43 per cent of Indians, only a little over half of those identify it as their “mother tongue” and many southern states are vociferously resistant to what they see as the imposition of the language by the north.

Dr Shama Mohamed, a spokesperson for the opposition Congress party, said on Thursday that India “has an edge over other countries in employability due to our better English”.

“The decision to enforce mother tongue as the medium of instruction till class 5 (age 11) in the new education policy may undo this advantage and might hurt the poor who can't afford private tutors for English,” she said.

Shivani Gandhi, a Bangalore-based teacher and expert in curriculum design, agreed that the new policy would effectively amount to a “ban” on English-medium primary schools and that “the government wants to highlight [this] for the people who are more right wing”. “[They] are going to say 'Hey, they're going to promote [Hindi]!' And there are more than enough people who care about that.”

But she questioned how much practical impact this would have on standards of English in the country, saying such schools would probably rebrand as “multi-language” while maintaining the levels of English tuition demanded by parents.

“From my experience, the one language that school leaders take most seriously and want to improve is English,” Ms Gandhi told The Independent. “From the perspective of a teacher and a parent, they would still want their child to learn English and therefore I don't think the school is going to risk being ostracised because they aren't keeping up to date. I don't think English is going anywhere.”

Delhi-based parents Balaji and Roshni said they were “cautiously optimistic” about the new education policy, and welcomed the move on languages having already chosen a Hindi-medium school for their son Tavish when he enters the first grade in September.

“The evidence is that children at ages three to eight can process as many as six languages simultaneously, and this ability is lost as we age,” said Balaji. “So there will be no loss of proficiency in any language as long as all are taught. English must certainly be taught. It just need not be the medium of instruction.”

“Our view on this is an unpopular one in our peer group,” said Roshni. “Indians are obsessed with English and I know that most parents prefer sending their kids to schools that have English as a medium of instruction.

“[But] we consciously chose [a Hindi-medium school] because we wanted Tavish to be proficient in Indian languages and not grow up speaking like Peppa Pig.”

Other policies announced under the education plan include the promise of a new national curriculum drafted by a single central body, and new national commissions to oversee university standards and research.

There will also be a greater focus on vocational training and life skills, both at a school and higher education level, with universities encouraged to establish new multi-disciplinary degrees with a “creative combinations of subjects” closer to the US system of graduating with majors and minors.

Ms Gandhi said that while she had concerns about some elements of the plan, overall she would “rate it at a 7.5/10 for intent”. “Even if only 10 per cent of it is implemented successfully, if we have a more robust early childhood curriculum, if we have an integration of 20 per cent new skills, and if there is more flexibility in higher education formats, I think that would be a radical change for India,” she said.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...g-english-modi-education-reform-a9646246.html

I think this is one of the best things modi has done. I am not a fan but if he does this teach people to think and grow in their own languages. India will finally be free of its colonial past. Our tendency in South Asia is to become a Baboo and a clerk/Ghulam for the west so they can have a subservient work force focused on meeting their needs rather our own.

and please don’t give me the bs about science and technology and advancement is all in English as the Germans, Japanese , Italian , Greek , French, Russians, Chinese all teach in their own language and are far more successful than us.

Our own language will give us true independence. Wish Pakistan Does the same

kv

 

[大汉奸柳传志]

English is not a classy language to begin with, more like a language of the trade

 

[Joe Shearer]

As I have said, senior engineers can understand curry English, that's why I said it is a capability, but not everyone is a senior engineer. For those who have difficulty to understand curry English, we usually communicate with Indian coworkers via email, that's all.

LOLOL.

I gather we have not yet been savaged by Indian English syntax. You have great pleasures in prospect.

 

[Joe Shearer]

We don't habe to care for their policy.
We have to design our own policy that will benifit our young minds and prepare them for new world.

I am sorry, was there something in what I wrote that seemed to oppose your perfectly sensible view? Who asked for anyone other than Indians to 'care' for this policy? Who said, anywhere, that this should be imposed on any other country?

Your post is puzzling.

 

[Joe Shearer]

I am not a fan but if he does this teach people to think and grow in their own languages.

It is not clear how banning English from being taught in primary school will teach people to think and grow in their own languages. That happens, in my very humble opinion, only with practice of one's own language. Two Bengalis will never, ever, speak to each other in any language but Bengali. Whatever their predilections, and Nirad Chaudhuri has to be understood before he is quoted out of context, Bengalis will seek to render into their own vernacular all that is good and inspiring in any other language or culture.

That teaches people to think and grow in their own languages.

That happened in our experience without any obstruction from the fact (former fact, since the CPM had ideas very similar to Modi other than on Muslims) that English was taught right from the outset.

You are not to take it personally if I suggest that this policy is simply playing to the gallery, and has no sincere purpose in mind.

 

[letsrock]

I think this is one of the best things modi has done. I am not a fan but if he does this teach people to think and grow in their own languages. India will finally be free of its colonial past. Our tendency in South Asia is to become a Baboo and a clerk/Ghulam for the west so they can have a subservient work force focused on meeting their needs rather our own.

and please don’t give me the bs about science and technology and advancement is all in English as the Germans, Japanese , Italian , Greek , French, Russians, Chinese all teach in their own language and are far more successful than us.

Our own language will give us true independence. Wish Pakistan Does the same

kv

You are giving too much credit to india's ability in implementing its policies. also india does not seek to be free of its colonial past but rather perpetuate it with new colonists. India wont junk english. Indian elite want to keep english to themselves - they just dont want others to learn english.

 

[Khan vilatey]

It is not clear how banning English from being taught in primary school will teach people to think and grow in their own languages. That happens, in my very humble opinion, only with practice of one's own language. Two Bengalis will never, ever, speak to each other in any language but Bengali. Whatever their predilections, and Nirad Chaudhuri has to be understood before he is quoted out of context, Bengalis will seek to render into their own vernacular all that is good and inspiring in any other language or culture.

That teaches people to think and grow in their own languages.

That happened in our experience without any obstruction from the fact (former fact, since the CPM had ideas very similar to Modi other than on Muslims) that English was taught right from the outset.

You are not to take it personally if I suggest that this policy is simply playing to the gallery, and has no sincere purpose in mind.

With respect, I speak A few languages and was educated at the university of London so speak whatever they speak in England.

I strategies and think of the concept in my own language then translate it to English or other languages

my German or American colleagues don’t need this step which allows them to go from concept to execution seamlessly.

If the medium of education in our countries is the national or regional languages we will learn better. We can then Always learn English as one of the foreign languages

kv

 

[Joe Shearer]

my German or American colleagues don’t need this step which allows them to go from concept to execution seamlessly

You got my middle wicket with that in-swinger.

So your German colleagues go to execution straightaway seamlessly, but you have to take the intermediate step of explaining to others?

Or do they explain to others in their best German and everybody nods and moves into their job-description roles?

 

[Redbeanpaste]

And to hell with losing out in the international job stakes. Read posts by @LittleFish above; apart from pulling his leg, aren't people going to react badly to having to cope with this patois?

So are you saying your country's education policy focus should be to produce workers for the international job market ?

 

[Redbeanpaste]

As I have said, senior engineers can understand curry English, that's why I said it is a capability, but not everyone is a senior engineer. For those who have difficulty to understand curry English, we usually communicate with Indian coworkers via email, that's all.

Good thing you are a little fish not a flied one.

 

[Redbeanpaste]

Our tendency in South Asia is to become a Baboo and a clerk/Ghulam for the west so they can have a subservient work force focused on meeting their needs rather our own.

Exactly!!!

 

[sms]

Two Bengalis will never, ever, speak to each other in any language but Bengali.

Too difficult to agree to you statement. Let me try to rephrase

1. Two Bengalis (male) living outside Bengal will speak to each other in Bengali and they will put required efforts to keep conversation in Bangali.
2. Two Bengalis (female) living outside Bengal will speak to each other in Bengali, but they will switch to English as soon as they get an opportunity to utter any word in English

PDF members: Please accept my apology in advance for generalization

 

[sms]

With respect, I speak A few languages and was educated at the university of London so speak whatever they speak in England.

I strategies and think of the concept in my own language then translate it to English or other languages

my German or American colleagues don’t need this step which allows them to go from concept to execution seamlessly.

If the medium of education in our countries is the national or regional languages we will learn better. We can then Always learn English as one of the foreign languages

kv

Sir, i could not understand highlighted text. How can some one move to execution from concept with out discussion / debate and selling idea to stakeholder and decision makers?

 

[Joe Shearer]

So are you saying your country's education policy focus should be to produce workers for the international job market ?

Not quite.

I am saying that we should not abandon our policy of emphasis on English teaching, but should build up from that, not down from that. We need to stream people early; in flat contradiction, we also need people to keep a grip on the Maths-Science side as well as the History-Geography side right through high school.

I am saying that the defects in our system are due to overloaded curricula that don't encourage teachers to explore a subject. Also that the teachers of today are not the kinds of people who would/could seize such encouragement and move ahead, that they need more money, more training - all the time, more training - better mixes of delivery mechanisms other than the straight lecture - when I saw my daughter's methods of handling issues in her classes, I felt very upset that we didn't get trained on such rich and productive methods in our time.

I am saying that, those factors apart, with the huge population we have, and the burgeoning rise of young and younger people, we have no option but to enter the international job market, because the Indian job market simply cannot absorb more than 10 to 15% of the graduates every year.

 

[Joe Shearer]

Two Bengalis (female) living outside Bengal will speak to each other in Bengali, but they will switch to English as soon as they get an opportunity to utter any word in English

I am reporting this to the appropriate quarters.

Expect death at an early and unexpected time. Expect much pain.