Page 28 - EW March 2025

Expert Comment

Language weaponisation

& linguistic politics

KRISHNA KUMAR

FTER INDEPENDENCE A FORMULA WAS in- Go to any school, and you will sense
vented to resolve the so-called language problem
in education. From the beginning, it met with the problem: most teachers don’t treat
Atricks and trouble. Tricks were played in the Hindi language as a means to think and
states of the north, and trouble erupted in the south.
The Hindi states claimed ‘full’ implementation of the express. Reading and writing are taught
three-language formula, but they used Sanskrit as the third as mechanical skills
language instead of a contemporary language spoken in a
non-Hindi state. In the south, Tamil Nadu (TN) maintained argue that the third language does not have to be Hindi, but
its two-language stand mandating Tamil and English to be this technical clarification has not softened TN’s position.
taught in government schools. The historical fact is that the framing of the formula was
Fast forward to the present. The Centre is telling TN to designed to ensure that non-Hindi states introduce Hindi,
implement the three-language formula and rest of the pro- thereby serving the formula’s goal of strengthening national
visions of the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. To integration. It was a major issue in the early decades of in-
ensure compliance, the ministry of education at the Centre dependence. The ethos has changed now, but suspicion of
has withheld a substantial amount due to TN under the Sa- the Centre’s intentions remains. It has also been fed by a
magra Shiksha Abhiyan (primary-secondary education de- new political plan. It has to do with delimitation of seats in
velopment programme). Unfazed, TN’s chief minister M.K. Parliament on the basis of new population data. This data
Stalin has responded by saying that even if the amount paid doesn’t exist yet — the Census due in 2021 has been delayed
were five times more, TN will not change its opposition on — but when it is conducted, its statistics will be used to re-
NEP 2020 and the three-language formula. Compliance allocate seats in the Lok Sabha. The language question has
with such demands will take state backward, he says. It is resurfaced in this climate — with a sharper edge.
important to remember that TN is among the country’s lead- he real issues were forgotten long ago. The focus re-
ing states on all parameters of progress in school education. Tmained on language as a medium of instruction. Both
Such Centre-state conflict is not new. In earlier times, words in that popular phrase remind us how little our basic
national policies and major education decisions were an- perspective has changed since colonial times. Language is
nounced after they were approved by the Central Advisory seen merely as a medium, and teaching is viewed as instruc-
Board of Education (CABE). This forum is an old British in- tion. The evolution of linguistic theory had established by
vention that has worked since its inception in 1920. Setting mid-20th century that children learn a language best when
it up was one of the major recommendations of the Mon- they are relaxed and feel encouraged to use it with freedom
tagu-Chelmsford reforms report. Its goal was to improve and imagination. In our classrooms, language has remained
governance in British India by creating better coordination a domain of tight instruction for correct usage and success
between Delhi and the provinces. As it turned out, CABE in examinations. English medium private schools promise
proved a reliable instrument for maintaining good relations mastery through this route. The best of them neglect the
between the Centre and the states after independence. Its child’s home language as if it does not matter. You can find
annual meetings gave state ministers an opportunity to pres- brilliant students in, for instance, Bangalore’s private elite
ent their views on Central government proposals. CABE was schools who can’t speak Kannada comfortably. Nor are they
not a statutory body, and its approval of a decision did not familiar with its literature.
make it binding. But it smoothed Centre-state relations on Meanwhile, English teaching in government schools con-
a large number of matters, especially related to curriculum tinues to be poor. The number of teachers who can’t speak
and exams. English has increased exponentially. And the teaching of the
Its long history seems to have ended. NEP 2020 does not child’s own language has also remained underdeveloped.
have CABE’s approval, nor was it discussed in Parliament. These pedagogic failures can be attributed to poor teach-
It is unsurprising that several states don’t feel comfortable er training and badly designed language curriculums and
with it. And it’s no coincidence that they are all opposition- textbooks. Teacher training has recently taken a turn to-
ruled states. But in some BJP ruled states too, officials lack wards further decline. Go to any school, and you will sense
clarity about what they are supposed to do about several new the problem: most teachers don’t treat language as a means
measures introduced by the Centre. to think and express. Reading and writing are taught as me-
The long historical background given above does not ex- chanical skills. And tragically, listening and speech aren’t
plain why TN is so unhappy with the three-language formula given much attention.
and why it is back in the news after more than half a century.
TN feels, as it did in the 1960s, that the Centre wants to im- (Krishna Kumar is a former Director of NCERT and author of The Child’s
pose Hindi on its children. This time, the Centre has tried to Language and the Teacher. His latest book is Thank You, Gandhi)

28 EDUCATIONWORLD MARCH 2025