Chamu Krishna Shastri, the head of the high-powered Indian Language Committee, rejected the notion of imposition of languages, saying that the states would have the freedom to choose the language of instruction in a democratic and decentralized process laid down in the National Education Policy.
Chamu Krishna Shastri, the head of the high-powered Indian Language Committee, rejected the notion of imposition of languages, saying that the states would have the freedom to choose the language of instruction in a democratic and decentralized process laid down in the National Education Policy.
Ministry of Education in November 2021 constituted a high-powered committee, the Indian Language Committee, Led by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-affiliated Sanskrit proponent and Padma Shri awardee for promotion of Indian languages Chamu Krishna Shastri, The committee has been tasked to prepare an action plan for the development of Indian languages as prescribed under the National Policy on Education (NEP) 2020, which requires the medium of instruction in schools and higher education institutions to be the mother tongue. he talked Hindu Jagriti ChandraOn the roadmap being prepared by the panel.
Soon the committee will complete one year. How much land have you covered so far?
We are studying the current state of languages in other areas of language use such as schools, higher education institutions and jobs. We have found that there are 35 mother tongues as the medium of instruction, and as part of the three-language formula, 160 languages as well as mother tongues are taught (for example, Hindi is a mother tongue and a language, whereas Garhwali is a mother tongue but not a language). The first hurdle in implementing the NEP is to provide study material, and for the first year our focus is to produce books in all streams of education, such as science, from class I to postgraduate level, in the languages of the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. Humanities and Commerce.
We are actively engaging with regulatory bodies, universities and professors, providing support in training, and organizing workshops and orientation programmes. All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) read first year engineering books in 12 languages and published 270 books in all. Work is going on for the second year books. Similarly, the Bar Council of India in association with the Indian Language Committee and the UGC has constituted a committee under the chairmanship of former CJI Sharad Bobde to prepare legal textbooks in Indian languages. The Health Ministry of the Government of Madhya Pradesh and the Medical Council of the State have also read the first year books [in Hindi], Recently, Shastra University in Thanjavur announced that they will produce 75 books in Tamil in 75 subjects in higher education.
Read also | NEP 2020 recognizes all regional languages as ‘Bharat Bhasha’: Union Education Minister
What will be the major focus areas for promotion of Indian languages?
Apart from textbooks, we also need to prepare teachers to be bilingual. There are about 1 crore teachers at the school level, of whom about 30 lakh are language teachers. There will be around 2-3 lakh teachers in higher educational institutions. Then there is a need to ensure employment opportunities and not just employable teaching of language students. We have discussed the inclusion of languages as a qualification with the Chairman, National Skill Development Corporation. There is also a need to ensure greater visibility for Indian languages and hence the commerce ministry can think of different languages [for retail items] And not just English. The health sector may think the same way for medicines. Negotiations are going on on these issues.
There are seven requirements for the development of a language and these are speakers; to use it as a medium of education or communication or entertainment or science and technology; Develop contemporary literature or material such as current developments, ideas or daily creation of knowledge in Indian languages globally; There is also a need for a continuous process of formation of new words; Fifth, we need languages to adapt to technology because we have seen 2,000 to 3,000 languages that were not compatible with print technology disappear; Sixth, we need teaching and learning materials; And lastly we need protection, which can be from corporates, society and governments. This is how we are envisioning the future plan.
What kind of job opportunities are being seen?
Corporates and governments along with MNCs need to communicate in local languages to expand their reach. Only 10.4% know English, the rest do not. Therefore, MNCs will need to instruct and promote in local languages, which is a huge opportunity for translators. This will be a huge business. Secondly, we will need interpreters. Third, translators will be needed in tourism where say a person is traveling from Ayodhya in UP to Hampi in Karnataka or vice versa. Fourth, tech. Tools like apps are now being developed in local languages which will open up more avenues.
But there is opposition from some non-Hindi states, who say that NEP 2020 enforces Hindi.
Till now, no education policy had laid so much emphasis on ensuring education in Indian languages. This is the first time in the NEP that we are seeing a strong push for Indian languages. The word Indian language has been used 30 times. States have also been given flexibility to choose languages for the three-language formula. No language has been specified. The states will decide, they have the freedom to choose. It will be a democratic and decentralized process. Do not impose any language.
This is a great paradigm shift in language teaching. The other paradigm shift is the mother tongue—primary and higher education should be through the mother tongue, with the three options being the regional language or the local language or the home language. These options are also given.
Under the NEP, a mother tongue will be the medium of instruction up to class 5 or preferably up to class 8. How will this be implemented in Delhi, where there is a plurality of languages?
I will answer this question in a different way. Before English, was there ever a dispute over languages? The boundaries of the princely states kept expanding or shrinking and new kings were born, but was there any dispute over language?
Before the arrival of the British, there was no system of translation. We know this because there is no translation available for the texts [from that period], Indian languages have many similarities – they have similar phonology, 50%-60% of vocabulary is common, sentence structure is common, subject-object-verb pattern is common, have a common literary source, and have similar aspirations, such as As a result of which people were able to understand different languages. There was no wall between the languages. Indian society was multilingual. Only the English elite is monolingual, the villages are still multilingual. need to put “Language Love” (love for languages) ,
Since the NEP states that either the mother tongue or the regional language can be the medium of instruction, does this mean that Tamil Nadu will have the medium of instruction as the dominant mother tongue?
This is an image made about Tamil. The weavers in Sivakasi speak Saurashtra, in Coimbatore the Gounder community speaks Telugu. Tamil Nadu also has Malayalam and Kannada speaking populations. The state has a population of six crore and 30-35% of them speak other languages.
Even in Tamil there are 12-13 different dialects. But due to certain reasons Tamil Nadu has promoted only Tamil. now they will have trouble [in implementing NEP] Only for learning Tamil. Tamil is also declining in the state. In 2010, there were 75% Tamil medium students in class 12th, and in 2020, this figure has come down to 55%. Tamil is also [on the decline] because of his policy. They have to change their mindset.
What is your plan to promote Hindi and Sanskrit languages?
Like all other Indian languages, Hindi also needs to be promoted. About 50% of citizens speak Hindi, so this is an advantage. Where English is the medium, it should be replaced by Hindi. There should be a desire or intention to learn Hindi, which unites the country.
Sanskrit has so far been taught through either English or Hindi, and the major emphasis in the NEP is on teaching Sanskrit through Sanskrit. Central Sanskrit University will develop simple, standard Sanskrit that can be used as a medium of instruction and communication. Sanskrit texts also contain the Sanskrit knowledge system, or storehouse of knowledge, which will be researched and published and made accessible.
The NEP states that all language institutions should be multidisciplinary. Therefore Sanskrit should be made available along with medical, STEM, management courses to bring Sanskrit into the mainstream.