[lg policy] India: 3rd and foreign language: HRD opens to debate

[Harold Schiffman]

3rd and foreign language: HRD opens to debate



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 [image: Smriti Irani, German language row,German in schools, Sanskrit
language, Kendriya Vidyalaya schools, Smriti Irani German row, Kendriya
Vidyalaya Sangathan, KVS, express news]
   When the Board of KVS, headed by Irani, scrapped German as the third
language in October last year, the minister had cited three-language
formula and the Constitution.
 Written by Ruhi Tewari
<http://indianexpress.com/profile/author/ruhi-tewari/> | New Delhi | Updated:
March 19, 2015 3:13 am

In an apparent climbdown months after it replaced German with Sanskrit as
the third language in Kendriya Vidyalaya schools, the Smriti Irani-led HRD
Ministry is looking at how “foreign languages can be prescribed as an
additional tool” in a “highly competitive world” and whether the
three-language formula should be “debated”.

Both these issues are set to be taken up at a meeting of state education
ministers and secretaries on Saturday to discuss the consultative process
in formulating the new national education policy. In a detailed note on the
“themes and questions for policy consultations” during the meeting, the
ministry has listed 13 broad themes for school education and 20 for higher
education.

When the Board of Governors of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), headed
by Irani, scrapped German as the third language in October last year
(German has been kept as an additional subject/ hobby class), the minister
had cited the three-language formula and the Constitution. According to
this formula, schools should teach Hindi, English and one modern Indian
language (preferably one of the southern languages) in Hindi-speaking
states and Hindi, English and the regional language in non-Hindi speaking
states. Introduced in 1968, this formula was reiterated in the 1986
education policy, as well as in 2005.

But in its latest note, under the head of “promotion of languages” in
school education, the ministry has said that a “multilingual society
recognises the importance of education in languages”.

*Among the questions that have been listed are:*

* In a highly competitive world, at which level and how can foreign
languages be prescribed as an additional tool?

* What language would you like your children to learn in schools?

* What should be the place of Hindi, English and local languages in school
education?

* Which language would be preferred as a medium of instruction in schools?

* Should education in mother tongue and multilingual education in schools
be encouraged?

The note also emphasises the importance of “mother tongue-based” education.
“While there are some interventions for appointment of language teachers
and promotion of classical languages, there is no comprehensive scheme or
language policy and we need to have inputs on this dimension,” it says.

The note says “there is a general perception that children learning through
English-medium have an advantage over others while entering the world of
work”.

In an indication that there may be a revision of textbooks, the note also
questions if there is a “need to improve secondary/ senior secondary
textbooks” and how many languages should be taught at the secondary/ senior
secondary levels.

Another issue that is likely to be discussed is whether abolition of Class
X exams has “reduced learning levels” of students.

For higher education, a question that has been listed is if
universities *continued…
<http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/3rd-and-foreign-language-hrd-opens-to-debate/2>*


*http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/3rd-and-foreign-language-hrd-opens-to-debate/
<http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/3rd-and-foreign-language-hrd-opens-to-debate/2>*


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