Language Should Build, and Not Break, Bonds

Once again, an intense controversy has erupted in the country over languages.

- A. K. MERCHANT

The National Education Policy 2020 (chapter 4) emphasizes the importance of educating children in their mother-tongue or regional language up to Class 5, and preferably Class 8 and beyond. However, given the 1369 classified mother-tongues and 560 unclassified mother-tongues, largely tribal, implementing the stated policy is fraught with many challenges.

Of the 121 languages listed in the Census, 29 are listed in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) list, while the 8th schedule of India's Constitution lists only 22 languages. Thus, a major controversy revolves around defining "mother tongue." The term is used interchangeably with "home language," "local language," and "regional language," leading to confusion about its exact meaning.

Developing resources, curricula, and teacher training for numerous languages is a significant challenge. Additionally, some worry that prioritizing mother tongue education might limit children's exposure to English, which is often seen as essential for global opportunities.

There is some truth to the charge of Hindi imposition. Nevertheless, post the recommendation of the Kothari Commission (1964-66) to promote multilingualism and national integration in India's education system, advocating for the study of a mother tongue/regional language, Hindi, and English or another modern Indian language, most states followed a three-language formula which was introduced in 1968.

Hindi does occupy a special space in the linguistic diversity of India by virtue of its sheer size. With over 60 crore (42 per cent of the current population) speakers under the umbrella of what the Census categorizes as Hindi, it is the world's fourth largest language, way bigger than any other Indian language.