APPENDIX G-- THE PROPOSED REPLACEMENT OF ENGLISH BY REGIONAL LANGUAGES AND/OR HINDI AS MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION AT THE UNIVERSITIES AND THE PLACE OF ENGLISH IN OUR NATIONAL LIFE
1. A joint statement issued by certain distinguished educationists (copy attached), pointing out the dangers of, lowering standards of English in our educational institutions, was placed before the Inter-University Board for consideration at their last annual meeting. The Board endorsed the statement made in the memorandum that an adequate standard of English should be kept up in the interests of Higher education, whatever may be the medium of instruction, so that students may have opportunities of studying international literature and have facilities for migrating from one university to another.
2. The statement in question, together with the views of the Board stated above, is placed before the Central Advisory Board of Education for consideration and advice.
Prof. A. R. Wadia, 96, Marine Drive, Ex-Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Bombay-2. Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. 4th August, 1952.
Sir,
There is hardly a day, when the language question in our uni- versities is not discussed in the Press and from public platforms. A good deal of this discussion shows no grip of the real educational questions involved, and we as educationists feel gravely perturbed by the trend of events, and we crave leave to put before you our viewpoint as briefly, but as cogently, as possible.
The Constitution of our Republic has laid down that Hindi shall be the national language of India, but the use of English as heretofore is permitted for the period of 15 years after the commencement of the Constitution, and two Commissions at the end of five and ten years respectively are envisaged to advise the President as to the stages by which English is to be replaced by Hindi. It is the duty of us all as loyal children of India to abide by the considered decision of our Constitution, and it is the duty of every university to fall in line with the new set-up in our country. We were hoping that sufficient time would be left to the universities to adjust themselves to the new requirements. We have, however, noticed a tendency on the part of some governments, and some of the representatives of non-academic interests on our university bodies, to hurry this transition to an extent, which in our humble opinion is fraught with grave danger to our academic standards. and it is our painful duty to draw your attention to it.
We are quite prepared to accept the position that English shall be replaced by an Indian language-National or regional-by the
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end of 15 years after the commencement of the Constitution. In the meantime, the question of preparing textbooks and translating a certain minimum number of books into Hindi and/or regional take some time, and 15 years would be certainly more than sufficient, provided the Government of India and/or the State Governments are prepared to spend generously several lakhs of rupees every year for this purpose, and frame a definite ten-year scheme. But as educationists we see no possibility of our being able to do without some good knowledge of English, for any number of translations will never completely meet the needs of all the subjects taught in our universities with the exception perhaps of subjects purely Indian in their content. It follows that in the interests of Higher Education in India it is eminently necessary to keep up an adequate standard of English even after it ceases to be the medium of instruction. It is State Governments trying to reduce the quantum and quality of from this standpoint that we note with great distress some of the English taught in our High schools. It is a regrettable feature of our present-day education in our schools that the standard of English has been steadily going down, which has very seriously affected their study of all subjects, an the low standard of our graduates has become most distressing. Things are not going to improve by merely substituting Hindi and/or a regional language as the medium of instruction, unless side by side we have proper books in the languages concerned, and our students are sufficiently equipped in English, at least to read books in English with ease and understanding.
If the study of English is killed in our country with an almost indecent haste, the work of a century, perhaps on the whole more good than bad. will be undone inn a few years, and this will seriously affect the quality of our education. It is our earnest prayer to you to help the universities to maintain our standards to our satisfaction. If by any chance it is the policy of any State Government to weaken English in High schools, it should be open to universities to have their own entrance examination to test a student's knowledge of English whether he would be able to read English books with ease and understanding. We should also like to repeat that the universities would be in a position to do away with English as a medium of instruction only after books of the requisite quality have been prepared in, the new medium. If we look to Governments in India for financial assistance on a generous scale, we on our part would be glad to see that our professors and other teachers realise their responsibility in the matter of doing what they can to make the new medium of instruction and efficient instrument of Higher education.
We are conscious that at the present moment, opinion is in favour of the superiority of Hindi as against a regional language as a medium of instruction. Some of us are all in favour of having Hindi as the medium of instruction in all universities, as it will enable them to maintain the close contact they have succeeded in building up under the unifying influence of English. It will also be more economical to concentrate our energy on one language for university work rather than on a dozen languages. But whatever be the medium of instruction finally adopted by a university, whether Hindi or a regional
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language, it would be fair, if sufficient time is given to all teachers to equip themselves for the new medium of instruction, especially, as in the past teachers were recruited on an all-India basis and they should not be penalised because of any sudden change in the medium. of instruction.
We humbly request your close cooperation in the common task of producing graduates, who can compare favourably with the graduates of the most advanced countries in the West, and we can but look up to the Government of India and the State Governments to evolve a common policy so as to afford sure guidance to universities in their work.
Yours faithfully,
V. K. R. V. RAO,
Director, Delhi School of Economics,
Delhi University.
N. J. WADIA,
Vice-Chancellor, Bombay University.
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