Language of force

They say that the move to make Tamil the medium of instruction in schools up to class VIII smacks of collective hypocrisy when the top brass in Government administration and politics including those in the ruling party, have put their children and grandchildren in the Angrezi convents and schools rather than in Tamil medium schools.

The issue is likely to be fought out in the courts. Some educationists feel that more and more students could opt for the schools which come under the Central Board of Secondary Education CBSE pattern in order to pursue education in the English medium and improve careerprospects, particularly outside the State.

8220;When most members of the Cabinet want their children to study in English convents, where do they have the locus standi to decree that our children should study through the Tamil medium?8221; asks an angry matriculation school principal.

Several swear-by-Tamil enthusiasts have welcomed Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi8217;s announcement a few days ago that all nursery and primary schools which follow the State Board syllabus should teach Mathematics, History and Geography in Tamil up to standard VIII, if the schools want Government recognition. Others are outraged by what they call the manifestation of 8220;linguistic chauvinism8221; or 8220;fascism8221;.

Though several academicians, teachers and principals do welcome the move to popularise Tamil, the move to make Tamil the medium of instruction in private schools has been viewed as an undemocratic step, denying the right of parents to choose the medium of instruction for their wards.

Some schools are contemplating moving thecourts against the decision. They feel that Tamil cannot be thrust on them as a medium of instruction.

Nearly all the persons whom The Indian Express spoke to on the issue did agree, irrespective of which stream of education they subscribed to, that Tamil should be made a compulsory subject for study from the primary school level. However, opinion is divided on the question of the medium of instruction.

Former Anna University vice-chancellor V.C. Kulandaiswamy strongly feels that the Government is merely implementing what Mahatma Gandhi advocated that education should be through the mother tongue. 8220;Learning at the primary levels through a foreign medium is against the rules of education,8221; Kulandaiswamy says. Though he does not debunk the need to know English as a language which is an international link, he says learning a subject through a foreign language was bound to handicap a child8217;s understanding. 8220;An impression held by the people that study in English is better is not supported by facts,8221;he says. He added that when he could study in a Municipal School in Tamil medium up to SSLC and then cope with English education later, it could not be difficult for others, too.

But Lalita, a mathematics teacher and state award-winner who works in a private school, begs to differ. 8220;Teaching Mathematics in the mother tongue is definitely good for the child8217;s understanding, but the Government can insist on a parallel Tamil medium section,8221; she says. She feels that forcing students to study through the Tamil medium is undemocratic. Even if taught in Tamil, students would find it difficult to learn words like vattam for circle and vittam for diameter.

8220;How will the Government, that has given us a matriculation mathematics text-book with hordes of howlers, give us a quality book in Tamil?8221; she asks.

However, long-time Mathematics teacher and author of several books on mathematics besides a two-volume biography of Srinivasa Ramanujam, P.K. Srinivasan says that even during the British rule,the stress was on learning subjects through one8217;s mother tongue.

Teachers point out that the drop-out rate would be alarming and such an enforcement would see more students flocking to CBSE schools.

Some members of the Anglo-Indian minority, who run several schools, says that they would oppose Tamil as medium of instruction, even within the framework of the Constitution8217;s Articles 29 and 30.

Most teachers are of the view that given a choice, students and parents prefer English to Tamil medium.

8220;While there is no rush to put their wards in Tamil medium schools, this move appears to be a back-door method of the Government to force Tamil on the students,8221; says a principal.