The director of NCERT D P Saklani has sounded a warning about the potentially harmful trend of parents prioritizing English-medium schools, despite many of these schools having inadequately trained teachers. He stressed that government schools now offer high-quality education. Saklani expressed concern that forcing children to learn solely in English has led to a significant loss of knowledge and disconnection from their cultural heritage. He emphasized that the obsession with English-medium schools persists, despite inadequate teaching standards,
harming students. The new education policy promotes mother-tongue teaching to address this issue. Saklani also advocated for a multilingual approach, encouraging learning multiple languages to deepen cultural understanding, citing initiatives like tribal language primers to enhance cognitive development. He emphasized that language should facilitate learning, not hinder it.
He also stated that forcing children to memorize content in English has resulted in a loss of meaningful learning and a disconnection from their cultural heritage and traditional values. NCERT Director D P Saklani has addressed it as “no less than suicide”. He also added “Parents are obsessed with English-medium schools, they prefer to send their children to such schools even if there are no teachers or they are not trained enough. This is no less than suicide and this why the new (national) education policy has stressed teaching in the mother tongue.”
The 2020 National Education Policy (NEP) suggests that, whenever possible, the primary language used for instruction until Grade 5 should be the student’s native language, mother tongue, or local language. The policy encourages teaching in the mother tongue until at least Grade 8, and ideally beyond. Additionally, the home or local language should continue to be taught as a separate language subject, if feasible.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the introduction of mother-tongue-based education as a milestone towards social justice, describing it as a significant step in the last year. However, this move drew criticism from various quarters, including opposition parties. The education ministry clarified that no language is being forced on anyone. As per the new National Curriculum Framework (NCF), students in classes 9 and 10 will now be required to study three languages, including two indigenous Indian languages, while those in classes 11 and 12 will study one Indian language and another language of their choice.
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