National education policy

National Education policy 2019

 

National Education Policy and it's implication on language learning especially English Language.

Introduction

"Language is a medium of expression of the individual, society and its collective continuity in culture, in addition to being a tool for communication". (Dra19p. P4.5)Keeping this in mind the national education policy 2019 has given much importance to language teaching and learning from the foundational stages of a child's education. The implementation of three language formula and bringing in the study of various classical languages, multilingualism in education etc. are the proposal brought in by the National education policy. In the following article I would like to evaluate proposals that are directly or indirectly concerned with the Language Teaching and Learning especially the English language.

Implications on school education

Education in the local language/mother tongue: (Dra19p. P.4.5) The national education policy suggests education in local language and mother tongue. This will be a helpful decision to the students living in village area. But due to the upward mobility, Migration there is a concept of children of multi heritage. For them what will a native language mean? How will the curriculum address this issue?

The decision to implement the three language formula

The decision to implement the three language formula (P4.5.6) has been there in the education policy right from the beginning. The release of the policy document may lead to opening up of old wounds of Anti Hindi protest. "Language issues have to be handled sensitively in view of their emotional overtones, as witnessed recently. Protests are often made without understanding the spirit of the text" (Bhattacharya, 2019)

Indian languages as medium of instruction and conversation in place of English.

 "There has been an unfortunate trend in schools and society towards English as a medium of instruction and as a medium of conversation. Logically speaking, of course, English has no advantage over other languages in expressing thoughts; on the contrary, Indian languages have been specifically developed over centuries and generations to express thoughts in the Indian scenario, climate, and culture. Moreover, Indian languages are very scientifically structured, and do not have unphonetic, complicated spellings of words and numerous grammatical exceptions; they also have a vast and highly sophisticated ancient, medieval, and modern literature in the Indian context; as a consequence, they have a certain home-feel and "apnaapan" quality in the Indian context, making them easier, more relatable, and more relevant for children and adults alike to learn and speak, and with which to learn and express deep concepts across school subjects". (Dra19p. P 4.5.5)

 When National education commission mentioning about the Indian languages that can replace English in India there is no mention about a particular language which is capable of working as a link language.

Are all Indian languages capable of replacing English in the field of science and technology? Or if it is Hindi then this will be the repetition of the same story, the Non Hindi speaking areas will be at a great disadvantage.

If every state insists education on their own local language which language will work as a link language? There is a lack of clarity?

Branding English as language of economic elites

"English is regularly used by the elite as a criterion to determine whether someone is "educated", and perhaps most unfortunately of all, as a prerequisite for jobs - even in cases of jobs where knowledge of English is entirely irrelevant. This sad scenario and attitude (again, it may well be inadvertent) has resulted in the marginalisation of large sections of society based on language, keeping them out of higher-paying jobs and the higher socio-economic strata. This attitude has kept the elite class and the jobs they control segregated from the economically weaker sections of society, which of course contain many hardworking, smart, high quality, highly skilled, and educated people who happen not to speak the language of the colonists and current elite. It has created an unnatural aspiration of parents for their children to concentrate on learning and speaking languages that are not their own". (Dra19)

It is unreasonable is the down grading of English and branding English speaking citizens as oppressors. It smacks a prejudiced mindset towards a language which is a window of the world.

India being a multi lingual nation English has been a link language not only for the elite but even the ordinary citizen who could communicate even with bare minimum words.

"In particular, taking into account the enhanced abilities of young children to learn languages, and to help break the current divide between the economic elite and the rest of the country, in addition to teaching languages native to India, English must also be available and taught in a high quality manner at all government and non-government schools. The emphasis should be on functionality and fluency." (Dra19) This part of the proposal if implemented properly can solve the problem of inequality based on the language and will greatly benefit  the marginalised people based on the language

Language and literature

The new national education policy ensures that language learning will be improved through the Indian literature from various resources Language teaching "will be enhanced with the reading of an analysis of uplifting literature from the Indian subcontinent, ancient to modern, and by authors from all walks of life" (Dra19)While the last phrase is encouraging, and can potentially open spaces for diverse perspectives, the emphasis on upliftment can potentially degenerate into a somewhat dreary moralistic and monolithic perspective. Also, at another level, children in the 21st century deserve exposure to literature from all over the world. These have been, and can be made accessible in translations. Denying students access to this vast domain would be sad, to say the least. (Roy, Examining the Draft National Education Policy, 2019) If the literature limited only to the Indian Languages the students will miss the chance of enjoying the international literary resources

English as Language of science and Technology

 The education policy agrees about the internationality of English in the realms of science, technology and research. "Of course, English has become an international common language in certain Realms such as science and technology research, e.g. most high level scientific Journals around the world at the current time publish predominantly in English. For this reason, it is also important for children (especially those who intend to pursue scientific subjects at a postgraduate level) to become bilingual in science and to be able to communicate science fluently both in their home/local language and in English. This is in concurrence with the practice in all technologically advanced countries". (Dra19p. P5.5)

Quoting from the NEP draft clearly mentions the importance of English as a door way to wider knowledge but they are not mentionining how to maintain equilibrium between the use of English and other local languages. How can a language only be used in learning science without being taught as language of conversation and communication? This aspect point to the need of training teachers for bilingual teaching.

 

"On the other hand, textbooks (especially science textbooks) written in India's vernaculars at the current time are generally not nearly of the same quality as those written in English. It is important that local languages, including tribal languages, are respected and that excellent textbooks are developed in local languages, when possible, and outstanding teachers are deployed to teach in these languages" (Dra19p. P4.5.1). This aspect sounds encouraging and substantial if carried out in an effective manner.   This leads to an important need to develop the Indian vernacular languages and to train teachers to develop an expertise in Indian vernacular languages

A lot of importance is given to the learning of Indian languages with special consideration to Indian classical languages. I also appreciate the initiative of introducing the foreign languages like French, Chinese for the purpose of translation.

 Focus on language and literature In Higher education: "All undergraduate Programmes shall have a special focus on language education. Institutions will be encouraged and funded to offer several Indian languages, as well as some foreign languages, so that students can develop proficiency in as many as possible and increase their cultural literacy of India and the world. These programmes will cover both language and literature. Students will be required to attain proficiency in discussing their major in at least one Indian language, through an appropriate written project or presentation in that language". (Dra19p. P11.1.1)

A special focus is given to language education during the undergraduate level. Not only the Indian Languages but foreign languages and their literature are also given importance. Students will have to take extra efforts to get expertise in one of the Indian languages for the project presentation. This will help people to communicate their ideas locally.

When we evaluate the Language policies proposed by the National education policy we can see there will be a great demand for language teachers in the future with the implementation of learning of a classical language there is scope for language teachers to teach in other parts of the country which can also lead to a positive cultural Exchange.

Research in Language and Literature:  National education policy ensures that research and teaching in languages and language education will be supported by National Research Foundation (NRF) with adequate funds. All institutions supporting language programme will be funded to study and teach comparative literature. This will be a great initiative for the development of languages, their education and literature.

Conclusion

The National education Policy envisions an India – centred education system that will transform the nation in to an equitable and vibrant knowledge society by providing high quality education to all. It is well prepared and taken into consideration various segments of the society. The policy gives a great importance to the study of Indian languages but has shown a biased attitude towards the English language especially in the school curriculum. National education policy is a document that is comprehensive but there are many more questions to be answered.

 

References:

Draft National Education Policy 2019. (2019 , May 1). https://mhrd.gov.in/draft-national-education-policy-2019-revised. Retrieved August 16, 2019, from https://mhrd.gov.in: https://mhrd.gov.in/draft-national-education-policy-2019-revised

Roy, K. (n.d.). Examining the Draft National Education Policy, 2019. New Delhi, New Delhi, India. Retrieved from https://www.epw.in/engage/article/examining-draft-national-education-policy-2019

Bhattacharya, A. (2019, June 5). Fine-tuning the education policy. The Hindu, p. 8. Retrieved from https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a-brave-new-education-policy/article27473093.ece