“See that your children are properly educated in the rudiments of their mother tongue, and then let them proceed to higher branches of learning.”
—Brigham Young, American politician
With the Union education minister recommending that the mother tongue must be used as a primary medium of instruction for educating children till eight years, the government is moving towards providing the highest quality education for all children. This is consistent with an equitable, inclusive, and plural society as envisaged by the Constitution.
The recommendation came in the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for the Foundational Stage launched by the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan with the aim of providing holistic education in the age group of three to eight.
The NCF, which is the first ever integrated curriculum framework for children between 3 to 8 years, is an important step towards implementation of the principles and goals of language education as envisioned under the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020. NEP-2020 envisions an education system that contributes directly to transforming India into an equitable and vibrant knowledge society, making it a global knowledge superpower.
The policy envisages that the curriculum and pedagogy of our institutions must develop among students a deep sense of respect towards Fundamental Duties and a conscious awareness of one’s roles and responsibilities in a changing world.
One of the key recommendations of the NCF is the use of the mother tongue as a language of instruction for children from preschool to Grades 1 and 2 in both public and private schools. This is based on the premise that children learn concepts most rapidly and deeply in their home language.
It uses the play-based approach at the core of the conceptual, operational and transactional approaches to curriculum, pedagogy, time and content organisation and the overall experience of the child. It also focuses on the “panchakosha” system, which is an ancient explication of the importance of the body-mind complex in human experience and understanding. The different domains of development as envisaged under the panchakosha system include sharirikvikas (physical development), pranikvikas (development of life energy), manasikvikas (emotional/mental development), bauddhikvikas (intellectual development) and chaitsikvikas (spiritual development).
The framework states that “brain development is most rapid in the first eight years of a child’s life, indicating the critical importance of cognitive and socio-emotional stimulation in the early years”.
Though the NCF claims that introducing a new or unfamiliar language as the medium of instruction during the child’s early years of education could reverse the entire learning process, it states that English can be introduced as a second language in the foundational stage. “If the child is taught with a new or unfamiliar language as the medium of instruction, the 3-4 years of experience that the child comes with gets completely disregarded as a new language is taught from the beginning, at the cost of negating the foundational experiences, skills, and learning that the child has already accumulated, thus reversing the entire learning process,” reads the framework.
The Indian education system has long advocated adopting the mother tongue as the medium of instruction in primary school. Article 350A of the Constitution provides that every state and local authority shall make an endeavour to provide “adequate facilities for instruction in the mother-tongue at the primary stage of education to children belonging to linguistic minority groups”.
The report of the Kothari Commission (1964-66), which was appointed to assess the country’s educational system, recommended the use of the local or regional language as a medium of instruction in schools. Apart from this, the Right to Education Act, 2009, also emphasised the use of the mother tongue as the medium of instruction, as far as practicable.
The 2005 NCF also recommended the use of the child’s first language or home language or mother tongue as the medium of interaction and communication in Early Childhood Care and Education. However, it said that in the light of socio-political realities, English must be introduced early as a second language, either in Class I or at the pre-school level.
Odisha was the first state to incorporate Mother Tongue based Multilingual Education programme into its education system, exclusively for tribal children. This was done in order to enable them to develop a strong education base, beginning with the language the child knows best, building on knowledge and enhancing confidence and self-esteem. In this approach, primary schooling begins in the mother tongue and transition to additional languages takes place gradually.
The top court in State of Karnataka & Anr. vs Associated Management of English Medium Primary and Secondary Schools & Ors. (2014) recognised that the right to opt for a particular medium of instruction in school education is an integral part of the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression as guaranteed under the Constitution.
In 2020, the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Dr. Srinivas Guntupalli vs The State of Andhra Pradesh & Ors quashed the state government’s order converting schools from Telugu to English medium from 2020-21. It said it was violative of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, and various constitutional provisions.
“In over-all development of the child, medium of instruction in which he was brought up and educated plays a vital role. The mother tongue plays a huge role in the development of personal, social and cultural identity; more so, the first language often enables a deeper understanding of themselves and their place within the society along with increased sense of well-being and confidence,” the Court noted.
The Andhra Pradesh government challenged the High Court’s order in the apex court and the matter is pending consideration.
Similarly, early this year, the Rajasthan High Court set aside the state government’s decision to convert a Hindi medium school into an English one. It observed that the right to have education in a particular medium or language in which the child has been brought up is a fundamental one.
The policy decision of the government to introduce a mother-tongue based education system at the primary level can build quality education and result in overall development of the child. However, considering the multiplicity of languages in our country, how well the government will implement this policy is a question mark.
—By Banshika Garg and India Legal Bureau