03-11-2005, 03:22 AM
http://www.the-week.com/25mar13/currente...ticle9.htm
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->C for controversy
  Gujarat
Chief Minister Modi wants Gujarati children to study English from Class I. The RSS calls him Macaulay
By Anosh Malekar
A etle [means] apple, apple etle safarjan. B etle âboleâ [ball], bole etle dado. C etle cat, cat etle biladi. This is the way most Gujaratis have learnt the Queenâs language, starting with the alphabet in Class VIII. Chief Minister Narendra Modi of the BJP wants to change that to A for apple, by introducing English as a compulsory subject from Class I in Gujarat in the coming academic year.
"Not knowing the language might bring shame to a person when he faces the world," Modi (left) said citing his own "embarrassing lack of fluency in English. Though his intentions are good, he knows he is fishing in troubled waters. Since the 1960s, teaching of English has been a political issue in Gujarat.
Like liquor, English raises the hackles of a lobby of Gandhians who trace their roots to Maganbhai Desai, a former vice-chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapeeth. "Maganbhai propagated the use of Gujarati as the medium of instruction," said Sukhdeo Patel, an Ahmedabad-based activist. "So much so that the use of Gujarati in higher education became popular as âMagan madhyamâ."
Surprisingly, the initial resistance to âanglicisingâ Gujarat came from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Harshad Shah, Gujarat unit president of the educational wing of the RSS, Vidya Bharati, said an awareness campaign would be launched against the move.
Modi, who belongs to the RSS, intends to introduce English in 3,000 state-run primary schools as a pilot project. Vidya Bharati will not teach English in its 450 schools till class V. "We are not opposed to English language," said Shah. "The mother tongue has a great role to play in a childâs formative years." He said the early introduction of English will have an adverse impact on the social, cultural, educational and psychological atmosphere in the long term. Children, said Shah, will grow up feeling subservient to a foreign language.
Modiâs response was typical of him: "If we have confidence in our culture, civilisation and language, then we need not be afraid of English. Language is only a pathway to success. One should be proud of oneâs culture but should not shut the door on the world." Shah said catching them young was a fallacy so far as achieving good command over English was concerned. "It was Macaulayâs clever ploy to destroy the fabric of India," he said. "There is no dearth of Macaulayâs breed, who would like their newborns to laugh and cry in English."
Gujaratis freely admit to poor knowledge of English. A survey conducted at the H.M. Patel Institute of English Training at Vallabh Vidyanagar, near Anand, revealed poor reading and thinking abilities among students of English. Moreover, a national survey revealed that Gujarat ranked 20 among states in its ability to teach English. No wonder people from other states who knew better English came to roost in Gujarat.
"During the 1960s, when the textile industry was booming, the state was forced to recruit technicians, assistants and office staff from outside the state who could talk and correspond in English," said Laljibhai Prajapati, a senior employee with a Gujarat-based fertiliser company. "The Gujarati looked on in despair."
The politicisation of the policy affects students even today. Their representation is minimal at Ahmedabadâs best institutionsâIndian Institute of Management, National Institute of Design, Physical Research Laboratory, and Indian Space Research Organisation. "The average Gujarati student is as intelligent as anyone else, but his inability to read and understand English is a major handicap," said Javed Ameer of Action Aid. "This could be used to whip up the sons of the soil issue." Recently, Gujaratis demanded 90 per cent reservation in private professional institutions run by the Nirma and Reliance industrial groups.
"Times are changing in Gujarat," said Patel. "Modiâs decision should be welcomed. But where can he get trained teachers to impart good English at primary level? Let us see if this is mere propaganda."
Gujaratis, said Patel, should concentrate on the quality of education. "It is no use floating aimlessly in the quest for a space in the globalised economy," he said. "What is going to happen is superficial. And Modi is not the first."
The decision to introduce English from Standard V was made by chief minister Keshbubhai Patel in 1998, who himself took private tuition in the subject so that he could converse fluently with non-resident Indians and investors from abroad. Modi has gone a step forward, provoking a jibeâM etle Macaulay, Macaulay etle Modi.
Dissenting note
Gujaratis are an enterprising class who care little about English, says Sukhdeo Patel of Ganatar, an Ahmedabad-based NGO. "During a recent trip to Delhi I came across traditional Gujarati craftspersons selling their wares to foreigners, using broken English," he said. "Even otherwise, Gujaratis crossed the seven seas centuries ago." What rankles Patel is the Gujaratisâ poor knowledge of Gujarati. Like many others, he is sceptical of Modiâs plan.
Never too late: Sukhdeo Patel
"Whom are you talking about?" he asked. "How will a child whose mother tongue remains weak pick up a foreign language?" Patel runs mobile schools for children of salt pan workers in the Little Rann of Kutch. "I never faced any problems due to lack of good English," he said. "But now, with increased interaction with officials, fellow activists from outside the state and even foreigners, I feel the need to learn English. That will help me put across my point of view more effectively."
Patelâs inspiration is Acharya Vinoba Bhave, whose mother tongue was Marathi. He picked up Gujarati only after coming in contact with Mahatma Gandhi.
Acharya learnt French and Sanskrit at college and went on to pick up many Indian languages in later life. To understand the Koran, he learnt Arabic; to understand the Bible, Latin and Hebrew. At age 63, he learnt German, Chinese and Esperanto. He certainly did not learn English from Class I.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->C for controversy
  Gujarat
Chief Minister Modi wants Gujarati children to study English from Class I. The RSS calls him Macaulay
By Anosh Malekar
A etle [means] apple, apple etle safarjan. B etle âboleâ [ball], bole etle dado. C etle cat, cat etle biladi. This is the way most Gujaratis have learnt the Queenâs language, starting with the alphabet in Class VIII. Chief Minister Narendra Modi of the BJP wants to change that to A for apple, by introducing English as a compulsory subject from Class I in Gujarat in the coming academic year.
"Not knowing the language might bring shame to a person when he faces the world," Modi (left) said citing his own "embarrassing lack of fluency in English. Though his intentions are good, he knows he is fishing in troubled waters. Since the 1960s, teaching of English has been a political issue in Gujarat.
Like liquor, English raises the hackles of a lobby of Gandhians who trace their roots to Maganbhai Desai, a former vice-chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapeeth. "Maganbhai propagated the use of Gujarati as the medium of instruction," said Sukhdeo Patel, an Ahmedabad-based activist. "So much so that the use of Gujarati in higher education became popular as âMagan madhyamâ."
Surprisingly, the initial resistance to âanglicisingâ Gujarat came from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Harshad Shah, Gujarat unit president of the educational wing of the RSS, Vidya Bharati, said an awareness campaign would be launched against the move.
Modi, who belongs to the RSS, intends to introduce English in 3,000 state-run primary schools as a pilot project. Vidya Bharati will not teach English in its 450 schools till class V. "We are not opposed to English language," said Shah. "The mother tongue has a great role to play in a childâs formative years." He said the early introduction of English will have an adverse impact on the social, cultural, educational and psychological atmosphere in the long term. Children, said Shah, will grow up feeling subservient to a foreign language.
Modiâs response was typical of him: "If we have confidence in our culture, civilisation and language, then we need not be afraid of English. Language is only a pathway to success. One should be proud of oneâs culture but should not shut the door on the world." Shah said catching them young was a fallacy so far as achieving good command over English was concerned. "It was Macaulayâs clever ploy to destroy the fabric of India," he said. "There is no dearth of Macaulayâs breed, who would like their newborns to laugh and cry in English."
Gujaratis freely admit to poor knowledge of English. A survey conducted at the H.M. Patel Institute of English Training at Vallabh Vidyanagar, near Anand, revealed poor reading and thinking abilities among students of English. Moreover, a national survey revealed that Gujarat ranked 20 among states in its ability to teach English. No wonder people from other states who knew better English came to roost in Gujarat.
"During the 1960s, when the textile industry was booming, the state was forced to recruit technicians, assistants and office staff from outside the state who could talk and correspond in English," said Laljibhai Prajapati, a senior employee with a Gujarat-based fertiliser company. "The Gujarati looked on in despair."
The politicisation of the policy affects students even today. Their representation is minimal at Ahmedabadâs best institutionsâIndian Institute of Management, National Institute of Design, Physical Research Laboratory, and Indian Space Research Organisation. "The average Gujarati student is as intelligent as anyone else, but his inability to read and understand English is a major handicap," said Javed Ameer of Action Aid. "This could be used to whip up the sons of the soil issue." Recently, Gujaratis demanded 90 per cent reservation in private professional institutions run by the Nirma and Reliance industrial groups.
"Times are changing in Gujarat," said Patel. "Modiâs decision should be welcomed. But where can he get trained teachers to impart good English at primary level? Let us see if this is mere propaganda."
Gujaratis, said Patel, should concentrate on the quality of education. "It is no use floating aimlessly in the quest for a space in the globalised economy," he said. "What is going to happen is superficial. And Modi is not the first."
The decision to introduce English from Standard V was made by chief minister Keshbubhai Patel in 1998, who himself took private tuition in the subject so that he could converse fluently with non-resident Indians and investors from abroad. Modi has gone a step forward, provoking a jibeâM etle Macaulay, Macaulay etle Modi.
Dissenting note
Gujaratis are an enterprising class who care little about English, says Sukhdeo Patel of Ganatar, an Ahmedabad-based NGO. "During a recent trip to Delhi I came across traditional Gujarati craftspersons selling their wares to foreigners, using broken English," he said. "Even otherwise, Gujaratis crossed the seven seas centuries ago." What rankles Patel is the Gujaratisâ poor knowledge of Gujarati. Like many others, he is sceptical of Modiâs plan.
Never too late: Sukhdeo Patel
"Whom are you talking about?" he asked. "How will a child whose mother tongue remains weak pick up a foreign language?" Patel runs mobile schools for children of salt pan workers in the Little Rann of Kutch. "I never faced any problems due to lack of good English," he said. "But now, with increased interaction with officials, fellow activists from outside the state and even foreigners, I feel the need to learn English. That will help me put across my point of view more effectively."
Patelâs inspiration is Acharya Vinoba Bhave, whose mother tongue was Marathi. He picked up Gujarati only after coming in contact with Mahatma Gandhi.
Acharya learnt French and Sanskrit at college and went on to pick up many Indian languages in later life. To understand the Koran, he learnt Arabic; to understand the Bible, Latin and Hebrew. At age 63, he learnt German, Chinese and Esperanto. He certainly did not learn English from Class I.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->