“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

By Devender Singh Aswal

Many eyebrows were raised when a member of the Kasturirangan-led committee, set up recently to revise the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) and lay down the broad guidelines for school syllabus and textbooks, said that the existing curriculum in schools dwells “too much on defeats” and that “in the light of new facts, history should be rewritten”. The member, an ideologue, added that textbooks should talk about the “fighting spirit” of rulers, such as Maharana Pratap in battles against foreign invaders.­

When Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, HRD minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, initiated some revision in school textbooks, it was considered by the left-wing as saffronisation of the syllabus. The latest suggestion is in line with that initiative.

The revision of the extant NCF has been necessitated by the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. The NCF revision is not new or novel. It was last revised in 2005, and earlier in 1975, 1988 and 2000. The NEP encapsulates and condenses the recommendations of the committee set up to formulate a Draft National Education Policy.

It is a Herculean task to condense the over 400-page report of the Kasturirangan Committee into a 68-page policy document, that is the NEP, which was approved by the Union Cabinet on July, 29, 2020. As advisor to the Union minister for education, I recollect the affable but indefatigable Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had a series of mind storming and protracted discussions with senior bureaucrats, academics and scholars, apart from structured inter-ministerial discussions, leading to formulation of multiple drafts and eventual approval of the NEP 2020 by the Union cabinet.

The NEP, the first education policy of the 21st century, aims to address the many growing developmental imperatives of India. The NEP envisages revision and revamping of all aspects of the education structure, including its regulation and governance to create a new system aligned with the aspirational goals of the 21st century and the SDG4, while building upon India’s great traditions and value systems. The NEP unambiguously says that “the pursuit of knowledge (jnan), wisdom (pragyaa) and truth (satya) was always considered in Indian thought and philosophy as the highest human goal.

Admittedly, the purpose of an educational system is to develop good human beings capable of rational thought and action, possessing compassion and empathy, courage and resilience, scientific temper and creative imagination, with sound ethical moorings and values. The Policy envisages that the curriculum and pedagogy must foster a sense of respect towards the fundamental duties and constitutional values, bonding with one’s country, and a conscious awareness of one’s role and responsibilities.

Wide ranging measures have been taken by the ministry of education, the UGC, the NCERT and the CBSE to give effect to the provisions of the NEP under the timelines stipulated in the Policy. The provisions of the NEP relating to early childhood care is the foundation for the development of a new NCF for school education and is a challenging task. This is because, according to empirical studies, and a fact reiterated by the NEP, over 85 % of a child’s cumulative brain development occurs prior to the age of 6, indicating the critical importance of appropriate care and stimulation of the brain in early years. The school curriculum and pedagogy is to be restructured in a new 5+3+3+4 and “learning is to be made holistic, integrated, enjoyable, and engaging”. The curriculum content would be reduced to make the school bag lighter.

However, the core essentials of each subject would be retained to make space for critical thinking based on concepts, ideas, applications and problem solving. Teaching and learning have to be made interactive, creative, collaborative and experiential with classroom sessions “regularly containing more fun”.

The NEP speaks of empowerment of students through flexibility in course choices, multilingualism, curricular integration of essential subjects, skills and capacities, with local content and flavour by developing a new and comprehensive NCF for school education based on the principles enshrined in the NEP.

The task belongs to and stands assigned to NCERT by the NEP, but, probably conscious of the enormity and complexity, the government of India has entrusted the task of drafting the NCF to a 12-member National Steering Committee (NSC) headed by former ISRO chief K Kasturirangan, who also headed the Committee on the Draft National Education Policy, 2019. Out of the 12 members, apart from Dr Kasturirangan, who heads the NSC, two more eminent scholar members of the Committee constituted to draft the NEP 2019, namely Professor Manjul Bhargava and Professor TV Kattimani, have been retained.

Professor Manjul Bhargava is a professor of Mathematics in Princeton University, USA—the recipient of Fields Medal. This prestigious award is given to mathematicians under age 40 by the International Mathematical Union, considered the nobel prize for Mathematics. Professor Kattimani is a former vice-chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Tribal University and the current vice-chancellor of the Central Tribal University of Andhra Pradesh. The other members of the NSC comprise eminent vice-chancellors, scholars, academics, domain experts and thinkers. The task before them is complex and colossal as they have to develop the new NCF within the framework of the NEP, 2020.

Now, a member of the NSC, a known right-wing ideologue, has hinted at re-writing history and the textbooks “in the light of new facts” of history. The precise mandate of the steering committee is to develop the NCF within the mandated remit. The NEP speaks, among other things, of incorporating local content and flavour as the students must know about their past, immediate surroundings and topography, India’s civilisational heritage, constitutional values, so as to develop the spirit of critical thinking and inquiry.

The Policy advocates multilingualism, ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promotion of lifelong opportunities for all by 2030 by incorporating rapid changes in the knowledge landscape in the globalised world. The aim is to promote India as a global study destination by providing premium education at affordable costs so as to help “restore its role as a Viswa Guru”. Evidently, the founding fathers of our republic laid the foundation of a civic nation, and not an ethnic nation, by crafting a republican democratic Constitution, solemnly affirming to secure to all its citizens justice, liberty, equality and fraternity and assuring the dignity of the individual.

When one speaks of India’s civilisational heritage and the need for inculcating the spirit of enquiry and scientific temper, the following Vedic hymn comes to mind: “Whether God’s will created it (the universe), or [………] Only He who is its overseer in highest heaven knows,/Only He knows, or perhaps He does not know.” In a steering committee of 12 eminent people from diverse fields of knowledge, there may be initial difference of opinion but when they talk together, deliberate, build consensus and bring unity of purpose having regard to the need to impart quality education and make India a global hub of education, expectedly, they will surmount parochial considerations and develop the national curricular framework in perfect accord with the hallowed provisions of the NEP 2020, staying clear of the potential carping criticism of the extreme left or the radical right, by not harking too much on the past. Of course, we must analyse the past—without being its prisoner—in the context of the present for the purpose of building a resurgent India—the hub of global education—by laying the foundation of a sound, secure and holistic school education system to meet the aspirational needs of the 21st century.

—The writer is ex Addl Secretary, Lok Sabha and a member of the Delhi Bar Council. The views expressed are personal