From Gayatri Vantillu

Both the above instances put a stream of thoughts in my mind. While some were questions, some were answers and a few were rationalization of these thoughts. I thought of sharing them here with you.

Unlike Japanese, Germans, Chinese, Russians etc. who have their own national languages, in India we don’t have a national language. Hindi is our Official Language for the Union of India while in States we have different official languages. I’m given to understand that children who pursue higher studies in Japan, Germany, China, Russia etc. have sufficient relevant reading material in their respective languages. In India barring to some extent in Hindi (because of official patronage) all other languages fall short of the requisite material for pursuing higher studies. The problem is acute in science streams where one has to necessarily depend on English originals for higher exposures. Thus in Indian context, English is an important language, provided a child desires to reach the upper echelons of scientific enlightenment. In fact that may be true for all other countries also, because its in English we have the largest collection of material for scientific advancement and its English that is spoken and written in most of the conferences and journals.

In India, who doesn’t want his child to be the budding Nobel laureate? Thus every parent in India would like to see his child to be proficient in English so that his pursuit of success is not hindered by lack of English knowledge. This must be the root cause for the proliferation of “English Medium” Schools and gradual closure of “Vernacular Medium Schools” in India. Nowadays “English Medium” and “Convent” words are synonyms. People, even from the lowest economic strata prefer to send their children to “Convents”, run by private sector!!! Two of the municipal schools which my husband attended in 1970s have been merged or closed.

My father is from a remote village of “Anantharam” in Guntur district while my father-in-law is from “Choragudi” village in Krishna district. They did their entire schooling in vernacular medium and had English as one of the subjects. They read Shakespeare while in high school and college, which we haven’t yet. They both did their Masters in Physics and Mathematics respectively from Osmania and Banares Hindu University. Later they taught in the Colleges of Hyderabad and Cuttack for more than 35 years. Their parents, i.e. our grandparents didn’t know English nor did they speak English at home. Yet this deficiency, if any, didn’t stop them from bagging Gold Medals in academics. Till date they find enough mistakes to correct their children and grandchildren's English - some of whom are from English Medium schools!!! These elders are good at Telugu and Sanskrit too. The reason behind narrating the elder’s story is to appreciate that speaking English at home and school is not essential for success of an individual.

Probably it is we, the parents who over emphasize on English speaking, which the schools are cashing-in under the banners of “English Medium”/ “Convent”. Instead we need to emphasize on coherent and logical thinking. We need to encourage our children to write answers in own sentences and in the process shouldn’t be unhappy if he/she didn’t come first in the class. Recently my son narrated that in one of his classroom sessions, Professor Ramanujam fromMechanical Engineering Department at IIT-Kharagpur asked weak and shy students to come on to the dais and speak impromptu for five minutes each.

What's essential is that our children should be able to think instead of parroting the lessons. Their thoughts should be coherent and rational. Thereafter the medium of expression can be in any language of our choice. Isn’t it a fact that non-English speaking students outside US take only a few months to clear TOFEL and thereafter pursue higher studies in prestigious US and British Universities? Do they over emphasize on English from Lower Kindergarten as we do in India?

To inculcate proficiency in English, we can provide story books in English - Chandamana etc. My son’s English teacher Smt Guha Madam of Campion School Bhopal adopted a practice of asking the weak students to read out passages from the English Text book and thereafter explained the lesson. The school regularly conducted elocution and debate competitions for the students.

One should be clear in thoughts and be proud about his mother tongue and should be open to promote English with due diligence where required!!!