The number of people supporting the government decision to introduce English as a medium of instruction from standard I to VIII in the State-run schools from next academic year is very large but they are silent. But a minority section opposed to the move is vocal, according to Andhra Pradesh Official Language Commission Chairman Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad.
“Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, during his padayatra, had asked people of their choice and had promised them that he would fulfil it. He is only implementing what parents of school-going children had asked for,” he told The Hindu .
Mr. Prasad said the government had conceded his demand to make Telugu as one of the subjects mandatory in certain Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) schools, which was not the case in the past. “I urged the government to make sure that Telugu is ‘heard’ and ‘seen’,” he said.
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At a press meet in Visakhapatnam, he said he would request the Chief Minister to continue Telugu as an option for children who wanted to continue the existing system. The government move has stirred up a hornet’s nest and proponents and opponents of the decision are engaged in a wordy duel. The teaching community is divided too. Leaders of the AP United Teachers’ Federation have expressed fears that the sudden switch to a foreign language might result in a drop in educational standards, especially in schools in the rural pockets and also may increase the drop-out rate among girl students.
“The National Education Policy 2019 recommends mother tongue as a medium of instruction in schools till Standard VIII but the State is doing just the opposite of that,” said State president of the Federation P. Babu Reddy.
Telugu language experts call the decision ‘unfortunate’. Gumma Sambasiva Rao, former head of the Telugu Department in Andhra Loyola College and a prominent literary personality, said even the Constitution says that mother tongue should be the language of instruction at least at the primary education level.
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‘It’s a myth’
“Using mother tongue helps a child develop critical thinking and literary skills. Research shows that children learning in mother tongue have a better understanding of the curriculum,” he said citing examples of developed nations like Russia, Japan and China which “have not sacrificed their mother tongue in the name of development. It is a myth that academic excellence is possible only in English language,” he maintained.
State president of Municipal Teachers’ Federation (MTF) S. Ramakrishna, meanwhile, asserted that this was the only way to wipe out the difference between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ in the society.
He disagreed that the decision would cause problems to students. “All civic schools switched to English medium two years ago and our children are doing well,” he said.