Implementing Hindi and Other State language as a medium of Instruction can effect Multilingualism in India

Key Highlights of the Committee’s Report on Languages:

• Under National Education Policy: The Ministry of Education in November 2021 constituted a high-powered committee, the Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti.
• The committee is tasked with preparing an action plan for the growth of Indian languages as prescribed under National Education Policy (NEP) 2020,
• It was required the mother tongue to be the medium of instruction in schools and higher education institutions.
• Committee recommendations on Report of 2021:
  • The language used for communication in the administration should be Hindi, and efforts should be made to teach the curriculum in Hindi, but the latter is not mandatory.
  • Lower courts in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, and Rajasthan already use Hindi.
  • High Courts in other states, where proceedings are recorded in English or a regional language can make available translations in Hindi, because verdicts of High Court of other states are often cited in judgments.
  • The panel wants state governments to warn officials that their reluctance to use Hindi would reflect in their Annual Performance Assessment Report (APAR).

How it impact the Multilingualism in India?

• Extinction of Other Ethnic Languages

• Barrier in single implementation
• Maintenance of adequate recruitment of Staff
• Can lead to Socio-cultural divide
  
  

Other Associated Challenges:

• Insignificant for Institutions with Pan-India Admissions: A regional language focus is not meaningful in a scenario where the institutes see entrants from across the country such as IITs.
• Availability of Quality Material in Regional Languages: Another challenge is the availability of study material such as textbooks and scholarly literature.
• Also, quality control of these translations will be of utmost importance to keep semantic irregularities at bay.
• Availability of Faculty:Given the English-medium legacy of higher education in India, attracting and retaining quality teachers who are willing and able to teach in regional languages will be a challenge.
• Maintaining Pace with Global Standards: Delivering technical courses in regional languages may prevent students from competing in global labour and education markets, where fluency in English yields a distinct edge.
• A lack of opportunities for Indian students at the international level may prove counterproductive to the NEP, 2020’s aim of bridging the gap between elites and the rest.
• It also goes against the vision of promoting the internationalization of education.

Recent Developments

• SWAYAM, an open online courses platform of the Central government, has been offering some popular courses in Indian languages too.
• Ten States have accepted Indian languages such as Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, and Bengali as the medium of instruction for engineering courses.
• National Education policy, 2020:
• To Increase GER to 50 % by 2035: NEP 2020 aims to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education including vocational education from 26.3% (2018) to 50% by 2035. 3.5 Crore new seats will be added to Higher education institutions.
• Promoting Regional languages in higher education: NEP provides a framework for the education sector but is not binding on the States.
• Medical Education Minister of Madhya Pradesh has announced that the state government would soon launch MBBS course in Hindi medium.