English in Indian Schools
April 16th, 2007 | by Ridhima Suri |Bonfire. Wine. Four Americans. Two Indians. And discussion. All of them did not know each other.
It is a common sentiment in the Bay Area to attach every Indian to the engineering field. “Oh Indian, Oh engineer! I should have guessed!!”, is the common comment that my husband often hears, when in company of non-Indian people..:) On this particular occasion, about 10 minutes were invested when our American friends commented that our English accent was good( the Indians were me and my husband). They also showed surprise when both of us politely informed them that most of our schooling had English as the main medium of instruction.
The common typical misconception that people in the West have is that people from South Asia, particularly India, are less fluent in English. Which is true but not as an absolute truth. I think we both were blessed to go good schools, which is unfortunately, not the case for all students. However, much depends on other factors like upbringing, family background, atmosphere at home, interaction in social settings,etc. apart from role of Schools and Teachers.
I did some research and became aware of the following facts.
In an Indian context,
The National Curriculum Framework 2005, which lays down broad guidelines for teaching and learning, sums up the views of experts when it says: “A renewed effort should be made to implement the three-language formula, emphasizing recognition of children’s home language(s) or mother tongue(s) as the best medium of instruction. These include tribal languages.” The framework recommends that English should find a place with other Indian languages.
Use of the mother tongue as the medium of instruction has increased, as suggested by a recent survey. The seventh All India School Education Survey, conducted by NCERT in collaboration with the State Governments and National Informatics Centre. The survey was started in 2002, and was wound up recently(Provisional statistics were revealed in June 2005). The results confirmed that over 92% of schools teach using Hindi at the primary level as compared to about 91% schools during a similar survey conducted in 1996. The survey further said that 91.34% of the schools at upper primary level teach through the mother tongue against 88.64% schools in the previous survey. This included schools in rural and urban areas.
However, the same survey also found that about 87% schools taught English in the primary stage. About 90.61% schools at the primary and 84.86% schools at the secondary stage follow the three-language formula which is a good sign.
In higher education, fluency in English is an issue of prestige. It has become a ‘must’ for many aspiring to take up jobs in various fields. Careers in Management, Medicine, Science and Technology, Hospitality Industry or even political positions require good working knowledge of English. Fluency is always an added point. Check out any job-search website, any job classifieds and there is a high likelihood that a ‘FLUENCY IN ENGLISH’ or ‘CANDIDATE MUST HAVE GOOD SPOKEN ENGLISH’ would be required.
In an education system riddled with vast disparity(thanks to a large number of states with so dialects,etc.), language can also be an obstacle that comes in the way of learning. English, considered the passport to social mobility, is meanwhile becoming the preferred language of instruction among parents, many of who are conscious in their efforts to find a ‘good, English medium school’.
Schools and Family are the harbingers to individual developement. Looking at the above figures, I guess I got really lucky(and happy at the compliment near the bonfire!!)…yet I also hope that the Three-language formula works up its way in numbers!
Source :The National Curriculum Framework 2005
News on Seventh All India School Education Survey (Seventh AISES)
A Press Release by the Press Information Bureau, Government of India, stated that NCERT had disclosed ‘Provisional Statistics’ based on the Seventh AISES
