Page 105 - Swatantrata to Atmanirbharta : Lokmanya Tilak’s legacy

Education in mother tongue

The reason why developed countries in Europe and America
reached this position is that they do not have any difficulty in
learning in their mother tongue in any of the dimensions of
industry, business, technology, communication system. What
is the reason for such a problem in India? For one thing, even
though the Britishers have gone, our mentality of slavery has
not gone. We did not dare to take the yoke of English off our
shoulders. The New Educational Policy (NEP) has addressed
this subject. The policies emphasize that pre-primary and
primary education should be done in the mother tongue and
in the next stage, secondary education should also be done
in the mother tongue. To ensure that higher education also
starts in the mother tongue, various reference texts need to be
translated from English or other languages into those regional
languages. This initiative has been given a boost under the NEP.
These reference books and textbooks will be available in the
mother tongue at all levels, at which time all government work,
courts, business will also be done in the local language. Hindi
is the language of communication for the whole country. The
opposition to Hindi from the southern states is since education
there has been in English for many years. As Hindi gradually
spreads, this opposition will subside. This insistence has become
more bitter due to the insistence that Hindi is the national
language. Every regional language in India expresses its history,
its culture, its traditions, and therefore every language is the
national language. As Hindi is spoken in more states, it should
be the lingua franca.

Education - which will have the potential to create jobs.
To eradicate unemployment in the country, and the resulting
poverty, every hand must find work. India is a country of youth.
In another five years, 60 per cent of Indians will be under 30
years of age. This population is our strength. Because as the
need for food grows, so do the two hands that fill the stomach.
Getting these two hands to work should be our priority.
Therefore, the new educational policy emphasizes on business-
based education or action-based education. Business education
will start from the sixth std of school education. The ninth to
103 Swatantrata to Atmanirbharata