APPENDIX G- REPORT ON ACTION TAKEN ON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE CENTRAL ADVISORY BOARD OF EDUCATION AT THEIR 18TH MEETING REGARDING TEACHING OF ENGLISH IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN RELATION TO ITS BEARING ON THE QUESTION OF RECRUITMENT OF SERVICES
At their 18th meeting held at Trivandrum in January 1951, the Board considered the memorandum submitted by the Bihar Government regarding the question of the medium of examination in non-language subjects for the admission of boys into preparatory institutions for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Merchant Navy and resolved that the Government of India should examine, in consultation with the Defence and Home Ministries, the question of the teaching of English in Secondary Schools in relation to its bearing on the question of recruitment to services from all points of view and report the position to the Board.
2. The position in regard to the Prince of Wales Military College, Dehra Dur (which was one of the institutions referred to as an illustration by the Bihar Government,in their memorandum to the Central Advisory Board of Education) has been explained by the Ministry of Defence as follows : -
The Prince of Wales Military College provides public school type of education to boys and can, in a sense, be treated as any of the other public schools which take pupils up to the Senior Cambridge ; the only difference is that the College also, in addition, aims at preparing boys for the competitive examination held by the Union Public Service Commission for admission to the Joint Services Wing at the National Defence Academy. This does not in any way affect the status of the College as a public school or convert it into a preliminary institute for military training. The College, in fact, imparts no military training to the boys but only makes provision for drill, physical exercises etc., which are a feature of other schools as well.
As in the case of other public schools, the expenditure in this College amounts to approximately Rs. 200 p.m. per student which only rich parents can afford to pay. It is not, therefore, only the question of the medium of instruction which restricts admission to the College but also the cost which only sons of rich parents can afford.
As the College admits boys from all over the country, the provision of instructions in the 'mother tongue ' would mean the simultaneous use of several languages spoken throughout the country, which is obviously not possible. English must, therefore, of necessity be the medium of instruction and examination.
The age limits for admission to the College are 11 to 12 years whereas the age limits for admission to the Joint Services Wing at the National Defence Academy are 15 to 17 1/2 years. A boy would thus be able to profit from the education imparted in the College for at least for 4 to 5 years when he would become eligible to compete for admission to the Academy. If the teaching of English is to commence only after the boy enters the College, he will not be able to acquire, during the few years of his stay at the College, enough proficiency in the language to be able successfully to compete for admission to the Academy. In this connection reference may be made to the experience of Naval Cadets who went to the U. K. for training but could not make satisfactory progress owing to an inadequate knowledge of English even though they had been given special coaching in the language for some months prior to their departure for the U. K.
The position in regard to other such institutions has not been examined in detail as it is felt that the above would apply generally to them also.
The Ministry of Home Affairs agree with the position as explained by the Ministry of Defence.
3. The question of the medium of instruction in these Institutions is also linked up with two other questions of a somewhat wider application. They are :-
(a) the question of the medium of instruction in certain all-India technological and other institutions which are attended by students belonging to various linguistic regions, and
(b) the question of the medium of examination at the competitive examinations for all-India Services.
In regard to (a), English is the present medium of instruction and examination in such Institutions as the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. If these Institutions are to serve as centres for higher education for the country as a whole, it is necessary that the medium of instruction and examination should be one which earl serve the needs of students from all parts of the country. In the circumstances, it seems desirable at this stage not to make any premature change to replace English but to wait till the scientific and technical terms in Hindi have been formulated and the necessary materials are available so that these institutions are able to switch over to Hindi without creating any serious difficulties and complications as the medium of instruction and examination.
In regard to the second point, English is the medium of Examination for the Combined Competitive Examinations held by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to the all-India and Central services. Hindi has not been introduced as a compulsory subject for the present, but in the Departmental Examinations which candidates have to take after entry into service, provision has been made for a test in Hindi. This question is also linked up with that of the change in the medium of instruction and examination at the University stage. If the All-India examinations continue to be carried on through the medium of English and some universities change their medium of instruction much earlier than others it is possible that candidates coming from them may be handicapped vis-a-vis other candidates who continue to receive their education through English.
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4. The whole question has now to be considered in relation to the provisions in Part XVII of the Constitution dealing with the official language of the Union and also in relation to the decisions of the Board about the place of English in Secondary Schools and in the Universities. In regard to Secondary Education, the Board approved the recommendation of the Secondary Education Committee which runs as follows :-
" English may be an optional subject at the Senior Basic stage and should be compulsory at the pre- secondary and secondary stages so long as it remains the medium of instruction in Universities."
In regard to University Education, the Board accepted the following recommendations of the University Education Committee :-
" (3) For the Medium of Instruction for Higher Education, English should be replaced as early as practicable by an Indian language which cannot be Sanskrit on account of vital difficulties.
(4) (ii) Higher Education should be imparted through the instrumentality of Regional language with the option to use the Federal language as the medium of instruction either for some or for all subjects,
(7) English be studied in High Schools and in the Universities in order that we may keep in touch with the living stream of ever-growing knowledge "
5. The Board may consider the various aspects of this question and express its views in this behalf.