Punjab school principal mandates English on campus, sparks a row

“One thing is clear; the campus language is English. I want every student in this school to speak in English. They feel hesitant sometimes, but why is this hesitation? We are good at our native languages Hindi and Punjabi. One language I think our students must work upon is English,” Singh could be heard saying in the purported video.

“English is an international language. It is required in today’s time. Otherwise, we are going to miss out on many opportunities,” the principal said further.

“We are going to be very very strict on this in the coming days. We may fine you or deduct your marks. So it is high time that everybody starts conversing in this language (English) with their friends and teachers,” the principal reportedly warned.

Punjabi language activist Amandeep Singh Bains said, “There is nothing like campus language. Children shouldn’t be discouraged to speak their mother tongue. The government must take strict action against the school and its principal for threatening students to speak in English. There is no science behind this action. This will discourage children from learning any new language.”

“There are many studies, including by UNESCO, which show children whose medium of institutions is in their mother tongue learn and excel more than those who have a foreign medium. But here, they don’t even want children to speak their mother tongue during interpersonal conversation,” Bains said.

“I am also a teacher. What we are doing with our little flowers, I fail to understand,” he added.

“Language is just a medium. Not a status symbol. It should be learnt as a subject only and be just able to be literate in the English language. We as academicians are doing injustice with our present generation. And above all, making them become slaves of the English language,” one Navarsh Kumar commented on the principal’s video.

The school, however, replied on the video: “India will become a Vishawa Guru if we prepare our future generations with positive mindsets to take on the real world. The world order right now is supporting English as the language of the world and our children should be able to adapt under different circumstances. We are encouraging our children at DPS to be comfortable in their own skin.”