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THE HIMALAYAN MAIL Q MONDAY Q AUGUST 17 2020 6 THE EDITORIAL PAGE CLARITY ON JK NEP 1: Elephant in the room rime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech It is well known that the policy of home will be the choices of States, regions, and all as one of the three languages! The in- infused much clarity in the P Chidambaram language as the medium of instruction of course the students themselves, so equity and discrimination are writ large. P faces spirited opposition because (1) it long as at least two of the three languages Education, not a Public Good? roadmap for the political process in he New Education Policy is goes against the prevailing view of a very are native to India” (para 4.15). In the case of higher educational institu- Jammu and Kashmir. The delimitation mostly Motherhood and Apple large proportion of the people; (2) it Two paragraphs below, there is a whole tions, the NEP is quite categorical that of Assembly constituencies is the key to TPie. How can any one find fault cannot be implemented unless private paragraph devoted to Sanskrit that will there will be only two kinds of institu- with a statement that reads, for-profit schools are barred; and (3) the “be offered at all levels of school … as an tions — public and private not-for-profit future elections to Legislative “Providing universal access to quality government itself is not sure whether option in the three-language formula” institutions (para 18.12). However, when Assembly. The rearrangement of con- education is the key to India’s continued the objective of quality education will be (para 4.17). it comes to school education, the NEP stituencies had been overdue and it’s ascent, and leadership on the global realised if classes beyond Grade 5 or The intention behind the twin policy pre- dithers. It speaks of public, private and stage in terms of economic growth, so- Grade 8 are taught in the home/local scriptions on language is evident and philanthropic schools, conceding that likely to even the political weight of cial justice and equality, scientific ad- language. Restoring the importance of certainly not innocent. As a conse- private for-profit schools will continue Kashmir and Jammu regions. The vancement, national integration, and English in schools was a powerful quence, all political parties in Tamil to be allowed. move could upset the political domina- cultural preservation”? (Introduction) weapon that Ms Mamata Banerjee used Nadu have united to oppose the NEP as a It appears that, in the view of the Modi But there is more in the lines of the NEP to slay the CPI (M) in West Bengal. Re- whole. government, school education is not a tion by Kashmir and create a level play- and between the lines. In this essay, I introduction of teaching English in Consider this: for a Tamil, which will be public good, but a field where private ing field for the Union territory in a wish to examine the NEP in so far as the schools was a reform proudly an- the other language native to India? Obvi- profits can be made. In fact, the govern- new phase sans the special status. The policy deals with language and school nounced by Mr Adityanath, Chief Minis- ously, by reason of the government’s pa- ment has confessed that it is beyond its education. ter of the BJP government in Uttar tronage, it would have to be Hindi or capacity to occupy the entire space of process is crucial for equitable share to Teach English or Teach in English Pradesh. Sanskrit, bringing the spectre of ‘Hindi school education. all in power. Unfortunately, the The central — and vexed — question is Three Languages Principle imposition’ or ‘Sanskrit (read Brahmin) Once private for-profit schools are al- Kashmir centric parties have yet again language. The NEP states that “the The complex issue of language has been domination’ — both anathema in Tamil lowed, it will be difficult to enforce a uni- medium of instruction until at least complicated further by the NEP’s insis- Nadu. Let me warn the government: the form policy on language or curriculum displayed their biases and boycotted Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and tence on the three languages principle. I NEP will not pass muster in Tamil Nadu or teacher standards or any of the other the process of delimitation. Are the beyond, will be the home shall assume that the first language will as long as the issue of language is not re- lofty objectives of the NEP. Private for- leaders of these parties sure that language/mother tongue/local lan- be taught as a subject and will be the solved to the satisfaction of the Tamil profit schools are businesses; they will guage/regional language. Thereafter, medium of instruction, the second will people. strive to maximise their profits and pro- Jammu region should be deprived of the home/local language shall continue be taught up to an advanced level, and Consider also this: for a student whose vide what the market wants — English as its rightful share in power? The people to be taught as a language wherever pos- the third up to the level of imparting home language is Hindi, the second na- the medium of instruction, private tu- will never pardon them for running sible” (para 4.11). I support the use of functional literacy. tive language will obviously be Sanskrit. itions, coaching, Saturday and Sunday the home language/mother tongue as It is good if a child learns more than one For a Gujarati, Marathi or Punjabi, classes, rote learning, focus on exams, away from resolving issues that have the medium of instruction for children language, especially in a multi-lingual whose home language is closely related academics at the cost of sports, etc. If the created differences between the two whose parents opt for it, and there will be country, but how many languages, which to Hindi, the second and third languages NEP falters or fails in achieving the ob- regions. millions of parents who will do so. Never- and where must be left to the child and will be Hindi and Sanskrit. None of them jectives of school education, it will be on theless, the reasons for the hesitation in the parent. The NEP has acknowledged will opt to learn a language that does not the Achilles’ heel of private for-profit making an unqualified policy statement this freedom but with a sting in the tail: trace its origins to Sanskrit. Besides, they schools. ZERO CARBON on medium of instruction are evident. “The three languages learned by children may not be required to learn English at ECONOMY f Ladakh can work for creating a carbon-neutral economy why With Assembly polls scheduled next year, Tamil identity Ishould the UT of Jammu and Kashmir not follow the same model? Carbon-free is not just a fashionable politics may find a new release in the state slogan but a sustainable way of life. In Tamil identity politics, now, is invoked by the Dravidian outfits mainly to mobilise people against national simple terms, it means lowering the burning of fossil fuels. This happens parties and the Centre as well as to paper over social and economic fault lines. when people start eating locally raised sation. The Tamil-speaking region was and Anna mobilised against the Con- transformations including renaming Amrith Lal not an exception in discovering itself as a gress government’s decision to impose Madras state as Tamil Nadu, holding food and using products that are local- linguistic community, of course. Even as Hindi in schools in Madras Presidency. It the first Global Tamil Conference, ly made. The other ways are to use ast Sunday, DMK leader and the national movement under Gandhi influenced the Constituent Assembly Tamil archana (prayer) in temples, and alternative sources of energy and ban MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi was on the upswing, sub-nationalist sen- from declaring Hindi the sole official lan- even instituting a state prayer song that uses of plastics, especially for tourism. Lcomplained that a CISF person- timent centred on a linguistic self was de- guage of the Republic. invoked the greatness of Mother Tamil. nel at Chennai airport questioned her if veloping, mostly complimenting the idea The second time the language issue hit Popular culture took the cue from the Both Kashmir and Jammu have she was an Indian when she refused to of a pan-Indian identity, in many parts headlines was when the Centre intro- pro-Tamil mobilisations and deepened enough crops to sustain people in a respond to a query in Hindi and asked to of India. duced the Official Languages Act, 1963. the idea of linguistic pride. Tamil subna- healthy way. Though Ladakh’s fragile be spoken to in English or Tamil. She However, in the Tamil region, the devo- Anna, who had parted ways with Periyar tionalism has resonated in mobilisa- ecology makes it highly vulnerable to stated that “officials have not been sensi- tion to language got radicalised under to form the DMK in 1949, led the chal- tions for the Eelam cause, Cauvery wa- tised to be inclusive and respect diver- Periyar and Anna and came to represent lenge against the Centre’s pro-Hindi ter dispute, and Jallikattu. the impact of climate change, Kashmir sity”. A week before this incident, Tamil the idea of a new egalitarian self: It was push. As the campaign picked up, in Jan- Ironically, both the DMK and and Jammu are no less vulnerable. All Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK posited as the Other to a Brahminical, uary 1964, Chinnasami, a 27-year-old, AIADMK, offshoots of the Dravidian the panchayats should ban plastic in leader Edappadi Palaniswami rejected Aryan, and Sanskrit/Hindi persona.

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