New Delhi: The plan to introduce Sanskrit and other classical Indian languages as a subject in schools — a key recommendation of the Modi government’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 — has received pushback from Nagaland and Mizoram, governed by NDA constituents Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and Mizo National Front (MNF), respectively.
According to official records seen by ThePrint, Meghalaya, where the BJP is a partner in the government led by the National People’s Party (NPP), and Andhra Pradesh, governed by the YSR Congress Party that often sides with the NDA in parliamentary votes, have also sounded caution in implementing the three-language formula.
All these states have expressed their opinion on the NEP in submissions to the Centre’s committee on developing a new NCERT curriculum, which is headed by former ISRO chairman K. Kasturirangan. The submissions were made by expert groups formed by these states for the purpose.
The NEP, which was introduced in 2020, states that Sanskrit will be offered at all levels of school and higher education “as an important, enriching option for students, including as an option in the three-language formula”, which will require students to learn three languages, of which “at least two” would be native to India.
The Kasturirangan committee had sought inputs from the states on various themes, including languages.
It wanted specific inputs on how the three-language formula should be implemented, and effective ways of introducing Sanskrit and other Indian classical languages at the school-level.
Apart from Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Odia are recognised as classical languages by the Indian government.
Nagaland has pointed out that the state is already facing “trouble coping with the teaching and learning of Hindi”, and the need to introduce Sanskrit and other classical Indian languages would be a “burden” on the state’s students. Andhra has said the three-language formula should not be a ruse to impose any “hidden agenda to push Hindi, Sanskrit on the students.”
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A different language
The Nagaland expert group on languages has said the introduction of Sanskrit and other Indian classical languages “over and above the three-language policy” would be too much of a burden on the Naga students as the scripts, phonetics and literature are completely different from the state’s own languages and literature.
“Nagaland already has trouble coping with the teaching and learning of Hindi due to the non-usage of the language as well as insufficient teachers to teach it,” added the expert group formed by Nagaland.
“In view of the prevailing situation, it would be deemed impractical to introduce Indian classical languages particularly in the NE (northeast) region where there is a dominance of tribal people,” it said, adding that any language policy or its implementation plan in tribal-dominated regions must be cognisant of regional challenges.
“It (Sanskrit) can however be learnt as a specialised subject at higher level depending on the students’ interest,” the group said.
Mizoram said the proposal to introduce Indian classical languages and Sanskrit would be a “huge challenge” as it comes with major financial implications.
The attempt to promote major Indian languages in the state will also have an adverse effect on indigenous languages, Mizoram said.
“Moreover, language learning depends on the usability of a particular language. For example, if a student from a minority tribal community learns one of the ‘Indian language’ from a very different region, concrete learning of the language will not take place as he will no longer have to use that language when he is in his native village…” the Mizoram expert group said.
“If children will not be using Sanskrit in their everyday life, teaching of its literature or other aspects of Sanskrit will not be meaningful.”
Meghalaya, another state in the northeastern region, did not reject the NEP recommendations on classical languages and Sanskrit outright, but underlined that “flexibility” should be maintained when it comes to choice of language to be learned.
“Home language must be given high importance and no other unfamiliar language should be mandated to be learned in schools of different regions of the country,” the state’s expert group said.
Andhra Pradesh, which has a predominantly Telugu-speaking population, also appeared to respond in Meghalaya’s vein.
“Even if the student wants to study a language out of his own interest, he is not in a position to choose. Though the policy states that the student has all the rights to choose the language, he is indirectly forced to the third language (sic),” the Andhra expert group submitted, even as it added that the “three-language formula is helpful”.
“But the state must have clarity and should not have any hidden agenda to push Hindi, Sanskrit on the students, who wish to study their mother tongue, English and any one of the languages of their choice,” it said.
“The Constitution of India guarantees the right of the child to learn any language of his or her choice… The teachers should have a uniform idea regarding language education. Their ideologies, cushioned by their social status, religious background, should not influence the education that should be secular and democratic,” the Andhra Pradesh group added.
Diverging views on English too
Tamil Nadu, which has historically been against the three-language formula and purported attempts by successive governments at the Centre to “impose Hindi”, was among the first states to reject the NEP 2020.
In contrast, states such as Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have made forceful arguments in favour of introducing students to Sanskrit early in their school life.
While Madhya Pradesh said in its submission that there should be a separate Sanskrit language textbook “from class 1 onwards”, Gujarat said “the grammar of Sanskrit language is the grammar of the grammars”.
“Seeing the power of Sanskrit language as well as its scientificity, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar was in favour of making Sanskrit the national language. The study of Sanskrit across India not only brings uniformity in Indian languages but also erases the linguistic differences of North-South and strengthens Indian unity,” the Gujarat expert group said.
“Sanskrit is also a more suitable language for computers and there is a strong possibility that programming of future supercomputers will be done through Sanskrit language,” it added.
The submissions also reflect diverging views of the states on the subject of English language, with some like Nagaland, Mizoram, Assam, Haryana and Goa saying that it should be introduced in elementary classes, and others — Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Bihar — rooting for education in the mother tongue.
Bihar argued that introducing school students to English at an early stage, “with the limited experience of rote learning, bookish interaction, and teacher-centric methods spoil early creativity of the child”.
The Karnataka expert group, which was formed by the previous BJP government, said in its paper that “English as a medium of instruction has not only resulted in discrimination based on economic conditions of the parents, but has also kept children away from the language and culture of the land”.
ThePrint reported last week that state after state has written to the Kasturirangan committee that the new NCERT textbooks, cutting across subjects, should be loaded with the ancient “knowledge of India”.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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