Student and three languages debate

Key Stakeholders:
• The student, who attends public schools, should be the central focus of the debate.
• Public school students make up about 55% of Tamil Nadu’s school enrolment.
• Private school students often rely on supplemental learning beyond school hours, which public school students cannot afford.

The National Education Policy (NEP):
• The NEP’s three language formula is a problematic hypothesis.
• The NEP claims compulsory learning of three languages improves cognitive ability, employment mobility, and promotes national integration.
• However, with advancements in technology, language proficiency will lose its significance as a tool for knowledge acquisition.
• A strong foundation in a child’s mother tongue is essential before introducing additional languages.

State of Primary Education:
• 88% of class three students in Tamil Nadu still lack basic literacy proficiency.
• Many top-scoring students struggle to adapt when transitioning to English-medium instruction in college.

Focus on Teaching and Learning:
• The response to the poor state of primary education is to improve teaching quality and learning outcomes, not to add one more language.
• Education should focus on developing attributes such as curiosity, critical thinking, and creativity.
• It is unclear how public schools would find adequate and competent teachers for a third language.

Language as a Cultural Value:
• Language is a great anchor of cultural values.
• A third language is neither the only nor a superior way to inculcate these values.
• Education should lead to a choice of gainful employment opportunities.

Political and Student Development:
• The issue is a two-front political battle: stopping Hindi ‘imposition’ on the State and fighting to retain the robust status of English nationally.
• If the landscape is likely to change with Hindi progressively replacing English, the State’s politics should consider insulating the child’s development from the crossfire of political battles.

A Possible Approach:
• Hindi could be offered as an option as a third language from middle public schools.
• A rigid political position could result in a generation of students handicapped to compete nationally.