Let the children decide what they want to learn

It’s well known that scoring in Sanskrit is easier and since they already learn Hindi, they pick it up fast.

In my son’s class 6 form of 180 students, only 16 children have chosen Sanskrit as a third language. An overwhelming number have opted for Spanish and about 40 are learning French. The choice is made, at least in my child’s case, entirely arbitrarily. He chose French since he’s been to Paris, I figured, as good a reason as any. This might be a small sample size but indicative of a larger truth: there are almost no takers for Sanskrit. The few who have chosen it, haven’t for the love of the language or an abiding interest in Indian culture: they have a better thought out academic plan, that’s all. It’s well known that scoring in Sanskrit is easier and since they already learn Hindi, they pick it up fast. To each their own; but as a parent, it wouldn’t for a single moment occur to me to urge my child to take a language only to improve an overall percentage. Not that two hours of French a week will turn my child into Sartre, but if he’s able to place an order in French in a restaurant, that’s something.

In a reprieve of sorts, the government was on Friday compelled to rethink its decision to immediately replace German with Sanskrit for the one lakh Kendriya Vidyalaya students, between classes 6 and 8. The Supreme Court has nudged it to put off the implementation until next year. Of course, no one’s bothered to consult the children about which language they would prefer to learn (undoubtedly it’s German). For obvious reasons — there are more than 10 people on earth who speak it. Delhi University, notoriously competitive, where students with an aggregate of 95 per cent don’t make the cut for popular courses like Economics and B Com Honours, have to merely scrape through to do Sanskrit. A student with 48 per cent can apply for a seat in Sanskrit (H) in Lady Shri Ram College and Sri Venkateswara College. And with a score of 45 per cent one can apply at Daulat Ram, Indraprastha and Kamla Nehru College. Who are we kidding? Students only choose Sanskrit in college when they don’t make it to any other course. It’s the absolute last, bottom-of-the-barrel choice.

These ground realities are lost on the proponents of Sanskrit who wax eloquent about its seamless structure and claim it’s ideal for computer programming. Apple, arguably the most important designer and developer of software and computer languages, employs many Indian engineers, but not a single Sanskrit scholar. In fact on Macs, academic writing in Sanskrit is conducted in transliteration. Sanskrit as a killer computer language is a grandiose and wild idea, unlikely to ever be put to the test. It may have a rich tradition of poetry and it’s a crucial link to our glorious heritage, but that’s where it ends. It’s tragic that the government refuses to recognise that we have to educate children for the future, not the past.

Maybe this German-Sanskrit saga will lead to a much-needed larger debate on what children are taught in schools. In fact, why German? Why not Mandarin? Students in kindergarten right now will be at the peak of their careers between 2040 and 2050 when China and India will have 50 per cent of the world’s GDP. Knowing Mandarin will be a huge advantage. It’s something any forward-thinking government should consider. It’s also time schools introduced life skill subjects such as money management and budgeting, negotiating interpersonal relationships, and provide sustained career guidance. We need to recognise students’ academic burden and design a curriculum that equips them to cope with the challenges ahead.

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This story appeared in the print with the headline Score Board