News Highlight
A parliamentary committee has recommended that the medium of instruction in higher educational institutes be Hindi and the local language.
Key takeaway
- The committee suggested that in all technical and non-technical institutions in the country, Hindi or the local language should be used as the medium of instruction and the use of English should be made optional.
- It also recommended that Hindi should be one of the official languages of the United Nations.
Arguments for the promotion of Hindi in higher educational institutions.
- Widely spoken language:
- Hindi, one of India’s official languages, is the most spoken language in the country.
- In other words, around 43 % of the total population speaks Hindi.
- It is followed by Bengali and Marathi in the second and third positions, respectively.
- Increasing importance:
- Hindi has acquired more importance than ever before as professionals have become increasingly mobile. And they have a great need to know Hindi as a means of communication.
- Help in unification:
- A common language such as Hindi will help in better unification of India.
- Better administration:
- People who work for the central government or army always face language problems when they move to other regions of India.
- Therefore, the administrative machinery will not be able to deliver efficiently.
- Creation of Knowledge and a Public Sphere:
- Students avoid going to other places for education and research due to a lack of understanding of local languages. Thus, a universal language will be best suited to become the country’s, Lingua Franca.
- Leveraging technology:
- If Hindi promotes, it might automatically become the largest spoken language, thus giving numerous opportunities for software developers to make many applications unreachable today, mainly due to a lack of understanding of the English language.
Argument against Hindi in higher educational institutions
- Linguistic divide:
- Apart from the general divide between the North and the South, there is also a Linguistic Divide.
- South India is home to Dravidian states. These states are unwilling to accept Hindi as a language in higher educational institutions readily.
- Alienation:
- If Hindi is given priority, it will create differences among the students who don’t speak it, making them feel like second-class citizens.
- Reduce diversity:
- It can also endanger other languages and dialects and reduce diversity.
- National integration cannot come at the cost of people’s linguistic identities.
- Inequality in opportunity:
- Non-Hindi speaking people will find it challenging to get equality in opportunity, where Hindi as a base language is needed.
- The inevitability of English:
- English is today’s language of science and technology in the whole world. Even if we replace English from all technological usage in India with Hindi, still it will remain the language of science as it would be immensely difficult to translate all the scientific knowledge-base into Hindi language.
Way forward
- Connecting languages:
- Government should launch a programme to connect North to South lingually, where both sides will show the importance of their local languages.
- Prosper diversity:
- People and government must avoid enforcement of a single language on the whole country so that lingual diversity can flourish.
- Three language formulas:
- According to the National Education Policy of 1968, the three-language formula means that a third language (apart from Hindi and English), which should belong to Modern India, should be used for education in Hindi-speaking states.
- This formula is important in education; government must use it in other spheres to accommodate local, national, and international identity.
- Preservation through local language:
- The government should strengthen our local languages without bias towards any particular language to preserve our ancient philosophy, our culture and the memory of our freedom struggle.
Content Source: Times of India