English is now the
third most important language in India if one
goes by the medium of instruction at upper primary
level. That’s significant in a country of
22 official languages. Hindi is still way ahead
which isn’t surprising as Hindi speaking states are
more populated and even when it comes to the number
of states, Hindi is a language which is spread
across several states (in the north). Here are the
figures for enrolment (from National University for
Education Planning and Administration (NUEPA):
- About 50 percent
of students at the upper primary level study in
Hindi-medium schools
- About 8 percent
study in Marathi medium schools
- About 6 percent
of students study in English medium schools
More kids
go to English medium schools than these figures show
It’s important to realise that these
figures do not give the true picture as there are a
huge number of unrecognized schools on the Indian
educational landscape and many of these are English
medium schools. A study in Punjab had
revealed that about 26 percent of students of
the total number enrolled study in unrecognised
schools, and these unrecognized schools often have
better infrastructure and facilities than government
schools. This is probably true of other states as
well and this means that our researchers and
planners are “missing the visible but unseen in
their analysis of the current enrolment and their
plans to provide education for all.”
What I am trying to
say is that English has far more followers
that the government figures show.
Startling
growth of English medium schools
According to government figures, enrolment
in English medium schools (upper primary) is at an
all-time high, having increased a sharp 74
percent in just three years - during 2003-2006.
The most dramatic increases are in the southern
states. Only two Hindi speaking states (Punjab and
Himachal Pradesh) show significant increases in
enrolment in English medium schools.
- Andhra Pradesh -
100 percent increase (from 10.6 lakh to 20.9 lakh)
- Tamil Nadu - 17
percent increase (from 14.7 lakh to 17.2 lakh)
- Maharashtra - 12
percent increase (10.6 lakh to 11.9 lakh)
- Punjab (up by
93,000) and Himachal Pradesh – both 4 percent
increase each
- Karnataka - 2
percent increase
- Kerala – 3
percent increase (from 2.4 lakh to 3.2 lakh)
Percentage figures
for Gujarat were not available but the actual number
of students studying in English medium schools has
gone by 60,000 in the state. In Rajasthan the number
is 30000 which isn’t a bad figure at all although
lower than the states mentioned above. Other Hindi
speaking states do not show significant increases.
One needs to keep
in mind that certain states (North-East for example)
which already have a high percentage of
students studying in English medium schools will
have slower or negligible growth in enrollment into
English medium schools. I wonder if at least partly
that is the reason why the Gujarat figures are low
as well but I do not have confirmation of this. Then
there are states where overall enrollment has
decreased, and these states too will show a slower
growth in enrollment into English medium schools.
This has happened both in Kerala and Karnataka. In
Kerala the reason for low overall enrollment is
thought to be to because of negligible population
growth but I am not sure what the reason is in
Karnataka.)
Where the
northeastern states are concerned, the growth
figures would be negligible as English-medium
schools already have a 90 percent share of total
enrolment. In Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim enrolment
in English medium schools is almost 99 percent!
In Manipur, Goa and
Chandigarh, it’s about fifty percent, very high as
compared to the rest of the states of India.
It is believed that
even Jammu Kashmir has a high level of students
enrolling in English medium schools but figures were
not available.
Regional
languages as medium of instruction on the decline
All regional language medium schools
(including Hindi) are showing either a decline or a
sluggishness in growth (2003-2006) in percentage
terms. However when it comes to Hindi medium
schools, actual numbers have increased due to a
greater increase in population of Hindi speaking
states.
The fall in
enrolment in regional language medium schools is
proportionate to the increase in English medium
education.
Why do
people prefer to educate their kids in English
medium schools?
It’s very difficult to answer this question
but I have some theories and you are welcome to add
any.
- People feel that
only English can help their kids do well in life
because higher education in India is in English
and all employers prefer people who speak English
- Some places have
a larger number of good quality English medium
schools than vernacular medium schools and parents
want the best school for their child
- There is a loss
of faith in government schools, most of which are
not English medium schools
- A large number
of Indians in urban areas see English as a good
link language in a country where many languages
are spoken. They also see English as a global link
language.
- A large number
of Indians think that English has become an Indian
language and in fact we have developed our own
version of English. They do not think of it as
an alien language
- English carries
with it some element of snob value and everyone
wants to learn it to increase their social status
Why is
there a slower growth in enrollment in English
medium schools in some states?
- For some reason
people there are not convinced about the economic
benefits of English
- More people in
the north of India see English as an alien
language. This has a
historical reason as the northern states bore
the brunt the racism practiced by our then British
rulers and the “rising of the nationalist movement
in the 1920’s brought some anti-English sentiment
with it.” Thus the local languages became
emotionally associated with nationalism and
patriotism and these feelings persist to this day
What does
the future hold?
The language trends are clear to see.
English is growing slowly and steadily. Even in the
north which is a Hindi speaking bastion, states like
Punjab and Himachal Pradesh are going against the
trend there. I have no doubt that a day will come,
perhaps sometime in the next 50 years, when all
parents will want to educate their children in
English medium schools.
Is this the
end of the road for our regional languages?
I doubt it. In fact I have had various
opinions on this on my
language post. From what I gleaned from there is
that the dominant regional languages will survive.
Hindi has two big advantages: one, the maximum
number of Indians speak it and two, Hindi speaking
states do not make it compulsory for students to
learn any Indian language except Hindi. Students in
other states (except Tamil Nadu) have to learn two
Indian languages compulsorily (in addition to
English), and while one is their mother tongue the
other is Hindi. This dilutes the effort spent on
their mother tongue. Most people in non-hindi
speaking states grow up learning 2 Indian languages
plus English and often take up a foreign language as
well. As they enter college, English is the medium
of instruction and although Hindi is not compulsory
anymore, a language other than English is compulsory
for Humanities courses. Students who feel
disinclined to start learning a new language like
French often take Hindi as they are already
proficient at it after having learnt it at school.
And in any case, not all colleges offer the students
the facilities of learning a foreign language like
French or German. French and German are the most
popular foreign languages although this is changing
and students are showing a lot of interest in
Chinese and Japanese.