The manhood with which the Home Minister of India Amit Shah is supporting the medium of Indian languages in education, till date I have not seen such masculinity in any Prime Minister or Education Minister of India. It is true that Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, Trigun Sen, Dr. Joshi, Bhagwat Jha Azad and Prof. Education ministers like Sher Singh have done it, but Amit Shah has opened a front against the domination of English.
They are not speaking against the imperative of English like Maharishi Dayanand, Gandhi, Lohia or me, but what they are saying means that there should be a revolutionary change in the education system of the country. The first step is that the medium of education in the country for medicine, law, engineering, science, mathematics etc. should be mother tongues or Indian languages.
Why should it be? Because Amit Shah says that 95 percent of the children of the country do their elementary education through Swabhasha. Only 5% of children study in English medium in private schools? Whose children are these? Only children of wealthy people, politicians, high officials and upper caste people can go to these schools by paying hefty fees. Amit Shah’s concern is for the 95 percent children who are poor, rural, backward and minorities.
These kids fail the most going forward. They leave their studies in the middle and run away. They are also the most victims of unemployment. If the BJP government at the Center can inspire the states, they can start their education in their own languages. 10 states have agreed with the Centre. Now ‘G’ and ‘NEET’ examinations will also be held in 12 languages. The Center cannot make its language policy mandatory for the states, but what are crores of BJP workers doing?
Why don’t they urge the leaders of all the parties of their states to bring revolution in education? Amit Shah is talking to non-BJP states. If Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself and the Education Minister also talk to him, then this revolutionary step can be implemented soon. The government of Madhya Pradesh is starting medical studies in Hindi from September.
Just announcing a new education policy is not enough. In the last 8 years, there has been a lot of talk about improvement in education and medicine, but so far the concrete achievement has remained nirguna and formless. If the Modi government could free the country’s education and medicine from colonial slavery, it would be remembered for decades. No one will be able to stop India from becoming a super-rich and superpower.
