Draft national education policy rekindles debate on mother tongue

Draft policy’s stand on issue comes as good news for State government

New policy:The draft states that if States opt the medium of instruction to be the mother tongue, then there is a need to ensure that the second language is English.— file photo

Resurrecting the debate on the medium of instruction, the draft National Education Policy (NEP) has stated that it could be in the child’s mother tongue, local or regional language, if the States “desire” so.

The issue has been debated in Karnataka and seen long-drawn-out court battles. In fact, the draft policy’s stand on the issue comes as good news for the State government, which in May 2014 lost a nearly two-decade-old legal battle related to the State’s language policy of 1994.

Despite losing the battle in court, the government had also passed an amendment to the RTE Act in April 2015 in order to make mother tongue the medium of instruction in primary classes.

Important role

The document titled ‘Some Inputs for Draft National Education Policy 2016’, circulated to States, says: “All States and UTs, if they so desire, may provide education in schools, up to Class V, in mother tongue, local or regional language as the medium of instruction.”

While acknowledging that English plays an important role and that it is necessary to make children proficient in reading and writing in the language, the draft states that if States opt to have the medium of instruction in the mother tongue, then there is a need to ensure that the second language is English.

While the State government is happy with these developments, private school managements don’t feel so. D. Shashi Kumar, general secretary of the Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka, said the matter was already settled as the apex court had given its verdict. “Both, the State and Union governments are using this for political vendetta and are not willing to listen to the aspirations of parents,” he said.

Ironically, the State government too had softened its stand on the medium of instruction, and had said that the final choice should be with the parents rather than the government. But, it had maintained that the medium of instruction should be the mother tongue in government and aided schools at lower primary levels.

However, during consultations, the former Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education, Kimmane Ratnakar, had batted for mother tongue as medium of instruction during the NEP discussions.