The article, “Schools in grave danger” (Oct. 28), is on the mark except for the critical omission of the topic of language. Why is it always omitted in such articles? Please note that in practically all so-called developed countries, education through high school and usually through basic college, is in the people’s language. This is why the modernisation process has spread more rapidly and evenly through whole populations, as in China, Japan, Korea, and in the 26 or so official languages in Europe. In contrast, in South Asia, most of Africa, the countries of the former Soviet Union and the Philippines, the modernisation process has been slow and uneven. Where are the creative and culture-adapted peer-reviewed scientific articles in Tamil or in Marathi, or even Hindi?
Since Independence, why didn’t India follow the successful European model, where all education except for advanced academics must be in the people’s language and where anyone finishing academic high school must have knowledge of two other languages?
C. Maloney,Kodaikanal
