LANGUAGE IN INDIA

THE LANGUAGE EDUCATION POLICY OF GUJARAT GOVERNMENT

G. Ravisankar, Ph.D.

1. MODERN GUJARAT

Gujarat is the home state of Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and Vikram Sarabhai. In modern Indian political and cultural history, Gujarat has been playing a very significant role. Presently it is an industrially developed state. Gujarat is seen to be a pioneering state in industrial development in the country. Gurajatis are found everywhere, not only in India but also around the world. They are known for their hard work, diligence, amiability, and business acumen.

The linguistic states that surround Gujarat are Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. Gujarat shares an international border with Pakistan in the west. Earlier the Gujarat region was part of the Bombay Presidency. In the year 1961 when all the Indian states were linguistically re-organized, Gujarat became a separate state with Gujarati as the dominant language.

The Indian National Congress ruled the state from its inception until the 1980s. Since then several other political parties and combinations have ruled the state. This has resulted in certain important changes in the educational policy followed in the state. Although all the governments since independence followed the general policy outline of the educational policy of the Government of India, each government in Gujarat tried to introduce some modifications to the educational policy based on their own perceptions of the situation. At present the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the ruling party.

2. STATES HAVE SOME FREEDOM TO FORUMULATE THEIR OWN EDUCATION POLICY

Since education is in the concurrent list of the subjects to be shared by both the states and the Union Government, individual states have some freedom to formulate their own education policy. The guidelines given by the Central Government, over the years, have somewhat limited this freedom. The friction between the states and the central government often arises regarding the language policy. Moreover, there are high court and Supreme Court judgments that limit and regulate the powers of the state governments. Despite such limitations, states somehow manage to have their own policies, because of the ever-increasing dependence on political alliance between the regional and national political parties at the Central Government level.

3. THE LANGUAGE FORMULA FOLLOWED BY THE GUJARAT GOVERNEMENT

Gujarat follows the Three Language Formula recommended by the various Education Commissions set up by the Union Government, in addition to teaching a classical language, Sanskrit, at the school level. It is in line with the central government's educational policy. The languages offered are Gujarati, Hindi, English, and Sanskrit. The state government in Gujarat follows this formula for the overall benefit of not only the natives but also the non-natives living in Gujarat. The government of Gujarat has borne in mind that any language should be offered for learning only with a clear purpose in mind. The framers of the language policy of the Gujarat government considered the question of (i) the number of languages that can be learned by pupils, and (ii) the stage or stages at which the study of these languages should be commenced. The government has considered one more perspective. That is, the medium of instruction for the non-natives (recent arrivals) and non-native speakers of Gujarati. It has prescribed two media of instruction, namely, the Gujarati medium (for the natives and native speakers of Gujarati) and English medium (for the non-natives who are non-native speakers of Gujarati).

Equally from the learners' point of view the options are suitably matched. Two categories of students have been visualized. A higher percentage of the natives and native speakers of Gujarati prefers Gujarati medium. The reasons are i. The innate affinity in the mother tongue, ii. Gujarati society is mainly a business society and its business interaction is mainly carried out through Gujarati language. Hindi is preferred over English for any interaction with the non-native speakers of Gujarati. A few people, whose percentage is very small, opt for the English medium to get proficiency in English for i. Going abroad and ii. as status indicator. The non-native speakers of Gujarati have no option but to opt for English medium as most of them are not permanently residing in Gujarat and they seem to prefer English for better career prospects. Despite the two media of instruction, namely, Gujarati and English, the language load remains the same. That is, all have to study four languages. But the interesting aspect of this requirement is that each language is offered at different levels, either High level or Low level.

4. LANGUAGE CURRICULUM

The languages offered in the school system are arranged and named in terms of a sequential hierarchy: the first language, second language, third language, and fourth language. Gujarati is called the first language. Hindi is called the second language. English is the third language and the fourth language offered is Sanskrit. In these languages, the government has prepared textbooks for two levels: Higher Level and Lower Level. The Higher Level textbooks and teaching include both the language and literary contents. So, a higher level may be considered as denser in contents whereas the Lower Level textbooks and teaching include only the language or functional aspects that aim at giving a good communicative ability to the learners. The difference in the textual levels in a given language is two years between Higher and Lower levels of the same language. For example, the level 0 of a Higher Level textbook is prescribed for a student who is studying the third year or third level of the textbook of the same language at the Lower Level of the same language. The criterion for placing a student at an appropriate level is not the medium of instruction but the status of the student as a native or non-native (recent arrival) and native or non-native speaker in the case of the first language and second languages. In totality, all the students have to study all four languages at one or the other level. The teaching of each language commences at a certain level of standard in a given school. The intention is to see that all the students are exposed to some level of skill in the communicative, literary or the language aspects of the languages prescribed. It serves to fulfill the guidelines prescribed by the education policy to a certain extent, and meets the language education need of the pupils in Gujarat.

5. THE PLACE OF VARIOUS LANGUAGES IN THE CURRICULUM

A. Place of Gujarati

It is the mother tongue of the majority of the students. As the first language it is compulsory for all the natives and native speakers of Gujarati to study it at the Higher Level from the pre-primary stage. For the non-native speakers of Gujarati (or the short term residents of the state), it commences from the third standard and the text for them is the one prescribed for the native students of pre- primary level. Hence they acquire good communicative ability and feel part of the local society. Nevertheless, the government has provision to offer the language of any non-native groups both at the Higher and Lower levels, provided a language teacher is available for that language. This is in agreement with the recommendations of the Central Education Commission. But, in practical terms, there is always the paucity of teachers, which indirectly forces the students to opt for the Lower Level Gujarati.

B. Place of Hindi

Hindi or Hindustani has always been popular in Gujarat as a language of communication with in business circles for communication with those who do not know Gujarati well. It has been used for generations as a bazaar language. Gujaratis who moved out of Gujarat for business reasons always found the use of Hindi or Hindustani as very helpful in their business transactions. Gujaratis found Hindi or Hindustani easy to acquire because of Gujarati and Hindi or Hindustani belong to the same family of languages. Moreover, after independence, Hindi, being the official language of the Central Government, is assured of an important place in the country and in the school curriculum. Administratively it helps the employees to read any communication from the central government. It also helps to communicate with non-natives who do not have any skill in Gujarati. It is offered as the third language at Lower Level both for the Gujarati and non-Gujarati speakers. The teaching of Hindi commences at the fifth standard for both the native and non-natives after the students have acquired mastery of their mother tongue for the natives and English for the non-natives.

C. Place of English

A great deal of controversy exists about the place of English in the scheme of studies especially in northern India. I shall not go into the details of this controversy and the consequences of this controversy for school education. I will only point out that Mr. Promod Mahajan, a young, prominent, and capable Cabinet Minister of the BJP government, recently said that the success of Indian Information Technology sector around the world was due to the competence of Indian experts in English. In Gujarat, the teaching of English for the natives and native speakers of Gujarati begins at the Lower Level. The number of good English teachers is inadequate even to meet this task. English is allowed as the first language to the non-natives from the pre-primary level at the Higher Level. But for the natives it is offered as the second language at the Lower Level from the third standard. The contents at the Lower Level are similar to the pre-primary level meant for the non-natives.

D. Place of Sanskrit

As per the recommendations of the Central Education Commissions, a classical language needs be taught at the school level. Gujarat government has prescribed Sanskrit as the classical language to be taught to the students as the fourth language. The teaching commences at sixth standard and it is taught up to ninth standard. A Lower Level text is prescribed for this purpose. At the secondary examination level, the students have the option of taking as an optional subject. In other words, the continuity of learning Sanskrit throughout the secondary level of education is ensured for those who would like to continue the study of this classical language.

6. CONCLUSION

In spite of the fact that different political combinations came to power in Gujarat since independence, the uniformity in the education policy of the state seems to have been maintained. The policy certainly falls in line with the central government's guidance on education in terms of the number of languages to be taught. It offers four languages to the students. The languages are taught either at the High or Low levels depending upon the native and non-native status that in most cases is similar to the distinction between the native and non-native speakers of Gujarati, the dominant language of the state. Even the standard of textbooks for each level is stipulated. Due consideration has been given to the language learning load of the student and hence the teaching of a particular language commences at a suitable level of entry-level acquaintance with the language to be learned. This is not to say that there is total agreement with this policy and practice among the parents, the chief consumers of the education policy. One could easily discern the tendency to enroll in large numbers in private schools that start teaching English at a somewhat higher level than prescribed in the State syllabus. The Gujarat government's education policy values language sentiments of Gujaratis and, at the same time, tries to avoid any confrontation with Center, with regard to teaching Hindi. In order to keep the communicative ability in English while at the same time not burdening the students with a heavy load of English, it has prescribed English as a second language for the natives with a Lower Level textbook. Since Gujarati has its root in classical Sanskrit, this language too has become one of the languages taught (as the fourth language) in the high school just for a period of 3 years.

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