 MINUTES OF DISSENT

I. By Shri R. K. Amin and Shri A.K. Chanda

We record our thanks to the members of the Committee for their efforts to arrive at the greatest common measure of agreement. Our differences with them are only with regard to the recommendation on the Neighbourhood Schools.

2. We agree that it is necessary, for a stable democratic society, to have a common set of valueS. The common school system is therefore desirable. But it should be developed through persuasion and improvement of standards in the common schools and not by resort to compulsion.

3. Sometimes, in the hope of something 'better', what is already 'good' is destroyed and the promised 'better' does not ultimately materialize . We are afraid that the recommendation, as formulated, may have this very result : it may shut out scope for experimentation and destroy the few good schools that now exist, especially some of the Public Schools located at the hill stations and the Sainik Schools.

4. We may also point out that the Neighbourhood School is not the only means to achieve social unity. In fact, it may hinder efforts at such unity, especially in areas where only rich persons or only people belonging to, a single caste reside.

R. K. AMIN A. K. CHANDA

II. By Shri K. Anbazhagan

I do appreciate the strenuous effort made by the Committee to find a suitable solution for the education-cum-language problem of the country. Yet I cannot but differ from the views expressed in the report of the Committee on certain basic issues such as link language.

2. The report states that "In practice, Hindi is already largely in use as a link language for the country". It is a completely baseless premise that Hindi is a link language. It is based on the wish and assumption that, as stated in the report, "Hindi will become the sole official language of India in the future, when the non-Hindi areas accept it as such.'

3. In our anxiety to formulate a language formula, we should not forget that the official language question is not settled as yet. The language policy on education should not be utilized as a back-door method to implement or to introduce the official language which is under question. While there can be no two opinions that there should be unity among the diverse groups in India, it should be clear that unity is not to be confused with uniformity, and link language is a question to be decided by the people and shaped by time in the process of evolution.

4. There is a genuine feeling among the people of non-Hindi areas, that the official language policy requires reappraisal and unless all the regional languages, i.e., languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution are given equal status as official languages, the language controversy will not be settled. The people of non-Hindi areas strongly feel that English is enough to serve as a link language between one State and another, the Centre and the States, and with the foreign countries.

5. The view that Hindi should replace English as link and official language is based on sentiment and not on reason. To us the sentiment does not appeal. Sentiment would be satisfied only when proper recognition and position is accorded to our regional languages (such as Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali and Marathi). I find no reason why Hindi should be accorded undue status in preference to other languages which are entitled to equal, treatment.

6. On the teaching of languages for classes I to XI at the school stage, the following formula adopted by the Government of Tamilnadu (Madras State) is found to be a suitable one in the present context:

(a) The first language taught and the medium of instruction is the mother tongue, which, by the way, is also the State official language.

(b) English or any other foreign language is the second language which is taught from the third year of primary education.

(c) In the third stage, Hindi or any other Indian language is taught in classes IX, X and XI . The progress in the study of the third language is not taken into account for promotion. The provision of teaching Hindi is made in all the schools. This arrangement was followed by the earlier Congress Ministry of the State and the present Ministry has included the first (regional) language and literature of a higher order as an option in the hours allotted for the third language to suit the requirements of those who wish to specialize in the language and to provide real option in choosing a third language. This has been enunciated by the present Education Minister of Madras on the floor of the State Legislative Assembly on 1-7-67.

This formula will be of much use if adopted in other States and especially in the Hindi region, as the study of the actual present link language (English) gets priority next to their respective mother tongue (regional language).

7. 1 would like to quote from "The Report of the Education Commission" (page 15-para 1.60) in this context :

"Hindi (or any other Indian language for that matter) must be greatly developed and enriched before it can attain the status of a library language, that is a language which can serve as a vehicle for acquiring a substantial part of the current and rapidly expanding stock of world knowledge. This has to be taken into account fully in determining our language policy. This implies, as stated earlier, that every graduate will need to acquire a reasonable proficiency in a library language, which will be -English for most students. It will thus serve as a link language in higher education for academic work and intellectual inter-communication".

8. The statement of the Committee on devising a common scientific and technical terminology ignores the basic structure of the Indian languages. The basic and root words of the Dravidian languages and those of the NorthIndian languages differ so widely that a common root in one group may not satisfy or fit in the other group. As such, a common terminology of technical terms based upon North- Indian languages cannot be adopted in Tamil and other Dravidian languages.

9. About all-India institutions, it is stated "they should use Hindi and English as media of education having regard to the needs of students". As the Committee has rightly suggested, the medium of instruction for higher education should be the respective regional languages and it should be implemented within a period of five years, the proper medium for the all-India institutions would be only the languages of the respective areas where they are situated.

10. It is pertinent here to point out the decision announced by the Union Government on the medium of the UPSC examinations. The Minister for Home Affairs has stated that the UPSC examinations will be conducted in all the fourteen languages and their introduction-will be simultaneous.

11. The same kind of principle should guide us in choosing the medium of instruction in institutions of all-India character and importance and until such an arrangement is accepted, the status quo, that is, English should continue as the medium in the all-India institutions. I wish to quote the following from the Report of the Education Commission (page 14, para 1.55) on the above view and to caution the introduction of Hindi medium in Central institutions:

''There will however be one important exception to this general rule (that is, that regional languages shall be the media of education at all stages), namely, all-India institutions which admit in reasonable numbers students from different parts of the country. These institutions now use English as the medium of education which should continue undisturbed for

34

the time being. A change-over to Hindi may be considered in due course provided two conditions are fulfilled. The first is the effective development of Hindi as a medium of education at this level. This is a 'matter which can be left to U. G. C. and the institutions concerned to decide. The second is the equally important political consideration, that in such a change-over, the chances of students from non-Hindi areas should not be adversely affected and the proposal should have the support of non-Hindi States. The latter principle has been already conceded by the Government of India even in the larger sphere on the use of Hindi in official communications between the States and the Centre."

K. ANBAZHAGAN

III. BY Shri A. E. T. Barrow

In writing this minute, I must record my thanks to the Chairman and my colleagues on the Committee for their efforts to reflect in this report the greatest measure of agreement. My differences however are basic in respect of certain matters.

2. Common (or Neighbourhood) Schools : My colleagues are of the view that it should be obligatory on all children irrespective of caste, creed, community, religion, economic condition or social status to attend primary schools in their neighbourhood.

3. In my opinion, this is the very negation of democracy and a wholly regrettable assertion of totalitarianism. In every democratic society, the right of the parent to decide the kind of education his child win receive is sacrosanct.

"The right to decide what education the child will have is such an important right that one finds in the Declaration of Human Rights, to which India is a party, the following provisions :

Article 26(3). Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that should be given to their children'."

These words are quoted from the historic judgment of Mr. Justice Chagla in the Bombay Schools' Case 1954.

Mr. Justice Chagla adds : "Our Constitution be it said to its glory has embodied most of the articles contained in the Declaration of Human Rights and we would need very strong argument before we come to the conclusion that our Constituton has denied to the parent the fundamental right of choosing the kind of education that his child should have."

And he states further : "The child is not the mere creature of the State; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right coupled with the high duty to recognize' and prepare him for additional obligations."

These observations do not need to be supplemented.

4. The Common Schools system enforced by this totalitarian method can be a dangerous invasion of the cherished right of liberty of thought. The simplest and easiest method of controlling thought is to regiment and control the education of the young. There is no doubt that the State can make education compulsory. It can also determine the curriculum. But in a democracy the State must not and cannot regiment children into its own pattern.

5. Another fundamental objection is that no qualified primary school teacher will be able to enter the field of education except within the Common Schools system. This will be a denial of the right of the teacher to practise his profession. It will also lead to a stultification and destruction of experiment in education; it is well recognised that, in free societies, freedom to experiment is the very life-breath of education. All independent experiments in education, which are vital to the evolution of teaching techniques and procedures, will be stifled.

6. Unfortunately, State-managed schools are notorious for their poor academic standards, poorer accommodation and equipment and almost total lack of co-curricular and extra-curricular facilities. Inevitably, the few Independent Schools which today are oases in the educational desert will' disappear or be destroyed.

7. It is also unfair to isolate Independent Schools (I do not use the term, "Public Schools" as technically there are not more than 36 Public, Schools of which 15 are Sainik Schools, maintained by State Governments) in India from the rest of the socioeconomic pattern of the country and attack them. as especially "wicked citadels of privilege". They must be regarded as one among the many countless other reflections of the structure of society, " as one monad mirroring in microcosm the whole system of which they area part".

Regional Languages as Media of Education

8. I agree that it is not only necessary but inevitable that the regional' languages must be used increasingly for educational purposes. I cannot however agree that it is in the realm of possibility to use these languages within the short space of the next five years at all stages, which includes the post-graduate level, without a further deterioration in standards.

9. There is a woeful lack of advanced textbooks, nor are there books for supplementary reading, nor more important, enough teachers who can teach

with facility in these languages. Adequate preparation and sustained efforts will be necessary before such a change-over is feasible.

10. The recommendation on the use of regional languages as media, ,in my view, will lead to their use as the exclusive media of education at the university stage. The report does not make provision specifically and ,categorically, for the use of a 'link medium' which is necessary not only for the maintenance of standards in higher education but crucial for India's unity.

11. It is the duty of the Centre (Item 66 of List I of the Constitution) to determine and coordinate standards in higher education and this can only be achieved by the use of English, at present, as the 'link medium'. I am convinced also that the interchange of teachers and the migration of students from one university to another, will be impossible if universities constitute themselves into linguistic enclaves. I believe it is only a 'link medium' that can encourage a communion of minds and inspire national integration.

12. In the context of world conditions, in the context of treacherous, nuclear China, a military Pakistan, the need to keep pace through higher education in English with the increasing tempo of science and technology makes the "words of Professor Whitehead, particularly significant: "In the conditions of modern life the rule is absolute, the race that does not value trained intelligence is doomed........

"Today we maintain ourselves. Tomorrow science will have moved forward yet one more step and there will be no appeal from the judgment which will then be pronounced on the uneducated."

13. There is another matter on which I disagree with the majority report: it is the recommendation on the adoption of regional languages for the UPSC examinations. As one who is closely associated with the examination techniques, I am only too aware of the difficulties of coordination of standards in different subjects in the same language, and in the same subject, in the same language. I am convinced that moderation and standardization between multiplicity of languages, disparate in their content and development, will seriously militate against the reliability and validity of such examinations. My fear is that one result of a multiplicity of media will be competition, perhaps unwittingly, in mark-giving between examiners in the different languages with the result that the quota-system will inevitably emerge. All semblance therefore of any maintenance of standards in these all-India services will disappear.

14. Hindi, the Link Language: In this statement of policy, Hindi has been described as the link language; but it is, in fact, not the link language of education in India and is not likely to be accepted by the universities in non-Hindi areas. English is the de facto link language in higher education and will continue to be so, as it is a language of international importance and in

India, the key to science and, technology and therefore essential for higher academic studies and intellectual communication.

15. Hindi cannot even be regarded as a link language from the point of view of its use as a spoken language. The 1961 Census shows that more than 11 million people have returned English as their second language, whereas barely 9 million people have Hindi as theirs.

16. Finally, I thank all my colleagues for including at the appropriate places that safeguards should be provided for linguistic minorities. I had asked that, in addition, the words "and minority- run institutions" should be added and I do hope that the rights of minority-run institutions, specially, safeguarded in the Constitution, will be respected.

A. E. T. BARROW

IV. By Shri V. M. Chordia

On the language question the recommendations of the Committee. represent a compromise.

Such a compromise would have been desirable if it did not equate Hindi, with English on the one hand and with every other Indian language on the other.

The recommendations do not give any importance to the Constitutional, provisions that in 1965 Hindi has become the official language of the Union..

Even otherwise as the one Indian language most understood all over the. country, it is the only effective link language.

To ignore both, the Constitutional provisions and the realities in this matter, is illegal, inappropriate and impracticable. Without due recognition of these facts it would be impossible to lay down the correct national language policy.

The need of teaching Hindi as a compulsory subject throughout the country will become all the more important after the switch-over to regional languages as media of instruction and administration.

To put English on the same footing as Hindi would be wrong and will undermine not only the growth of Hindi but also the growth of regional languages which are intimately connected with the growth of Hindi.

Therefore, adequate knowledge of Hindi, the link language, at some stage of education before the end of the school course must be imparted to every Indian throughout the country. Every boy or girl should have at least a working knowledge of Hindi before he or she passes the high school examination. Otherwise the freedom of movement, residence and business throughout the country will be restricted.

A working knowledge of English or any other important foreign language, like Japanese, Russian, German, etc. etc. would also be desirable. But there