A Suitable Language

THE IMPLEMENTATION of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has picked up pace over the last few years. Its step-by-step implementation, from foundational to higher education, is constant. The goal has been designed pragmatically by the National Curriculum Framework (NCF). The implementation is evaluated by bodies like the CBSE, NCERT, UGC and AICTE. CBSE’s recent notification, instructing the mapping of mother tongues in schools and a gradual movement towards imparting foundational and primary-level education in the mother tongue, has prompted a debate in a section of the media which has raised concerns about the appropriateness of the time and problems of handling multilingualism of cosmopolitan schools in big cities.

NEP 2020 is not an object but a process designed for monitoring, evaluation and outcome. It doesn’t have a single goal nor can it be implemented at one-go because it aims at a long-term foundational transformation of the Indian education system to create a future-oriented educational ecosystem. Thus, the plan to impart education in the mother tongue at the primary level, various modes of evaluation and monitoring, as well as advisory and support systems have been developed by the Ministry of Education. NEP 2020, therefore, is not abruptly pushing for education in the mother tongue in schools, whether in metropolitan cities or rural interiors. CBSE also trains teachers to adopt new linguistic and knowledge objectives. Workshops are organised and teaching material is prepared for transformation on such scale. Second, the transition may be painful but it is necessary. What needs to be ensured is that it is well-planned, monitored at every step and remains flexible. NEP 2020 is flexible in both form and content.

Third, in metros, mother-tongue mapping conducted by schools suggest Hindi is the mother tongue of the largest number of students and English as first language is second in this profile. Our research studies show that migrants adopt either Hindi or English as their language. So, this shift may not be that problematic because schools can opt for Hindi as R-1 and English as R-2. Fourth, this shift to Hindi from English in big cities will be supported by advisory groups and evaluators as planned by CBSE. Under NEP, instruction in the mother tongue is planned till Class 5 but the student will not be deprived of English which will be taught as R-2. After Class 5, both languages will be used as the medium. The NEP-NCF provisions mention that wherever the medium of instruction cannot be the mother tongue, the student may shift to Hindi because the level of difficulty is less than shifting to English. Linguistically, this is because of the phonetic closeness between Hindi and other Indian languages as well as it sentence structure, etc.

The NEP proposes to be multilingual, not monolingual. But it emphasises that the “language of our own” may be suitable as the basis for communication of knowledge. This retrieval of our own language could help develop younger generations as the leading agency for the making of Viksit Bharat. It’s going to help build leaders with the knowledge capital of the past. Education is also about remembering our social and cultural self.

English is indeed the global language and has evolved as the language of migrants. But as suggested by Ananda Coomaraswamy, people’s intelligence can only develop in the mother tongue or local vernacular. Education in a foreign language can only produce accomplishment but that in a mother tongue can provide the capacity for creative self-expression which helps us become innovative. The move to the mother tongue in education can be the fundamental transition that makes us local and global at the same time. This Indian intelligence can also indigenise research in science, technology, culture and philosophy. Coomaraswamy, in his Essays in National Idealism, rightly said we need to develop Indian intelligence which may help make us the leaders of the future.

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