The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) recently initiated a programme, ‘Bhasha Sangam’, to introduce all the 22 languages in the Schedule VIII of the Constitution of India, with an objective to increase the tolerance towards linguistic diversity in the country. Ganesh Devy, linguist and founder of Baroda-based Bhasha Research and Publication Centre, while speaking with Prajakta Joshi, gave insights into the programme, and emphasised the need to preserving even the lesser spoken languages in the country.
- What do you think about MHRD’s Bhasha Sangam programme for school students? Do you think children being introduced to so many languages will prove to be useful?
The concept is certainly good. However, it will be successful only if it is carried out with full preparation. First of all, we need well-trained teachers to introduce the new languages to children properly, and this is something that is lacking in our country. Only three states - Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Telangana - have functional Multilingual Education (MLE) programmes. In other states, there have been experiments to some extent, but teachers are not that qualified. Further, in a country where learning languages is not given great importance, why introduce children to so many languages at once? Instead, teach them the languages of their neighbouring states, and this knowledge might help them practically in future. For instance, instead of introducing a Tamil student to Gujarati or Punjabi, why not teach him languages like Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam better so that he could use them.
- What are the different factors that need to be considered while training children in new languages?
While introducing children to new languages, we need to give thought to the script in which they are written, as the kids tend to associate languages with the script. It is much easier and more efficient to teach a child a new language that is written in his/her own script. A Bengali child can learn Odiya and Assamese better due to similarities in the script. Similarly, a Marathi child can learn Gujarati in an easier manner than Tamil or Assamese.
Another point that needs to be considered is the cognitive science of grasping. While learning any new language, the child’s understanding of his/her mother-tongue (first language) is affected. When more languages are introduced further, while learning those new languages, the child mostly thinks in terms of grammar alone, and other features and treasure in those languages are neglected. Thus, it is necessary to determine in what quantum are the languages to be introduced.
Also, to improve linguistic tolerance, songs and lores in those languages need to be introduced to the children, instead of just grammar.
- The children coming from the tribal/rural areas always face the problem of having to learn in a different language, in our State, either in Marathi or English. Is there any way in which the medium of learning could be made easier for them?
Why does a school need a medium of instruction. At least at the primary level, it is the objective of the school that is important, not the medium of instruction. The students learning in the state’s tribal areas, or the remote rural areas face this challenge, to learn everything in a foreign language, mostly Marathi, which becomes a difficult task for them. With the help of technology and training, why can’t we make a system where the teachers teaching at these small schools, on a face to face level, would teach in the locally spoken language? As the students move further to higher classes, they can be taught other languages like Marathi and English much smoothly. Such kind of an experiment was made in Senegal, over a period of around 16 years, and it proved to be tremendously successful. This will not only create a revolution in the education sector by decreasing the rate of dropouts, but will also help preserve the local, lesser-spoken languages.
