The teacher training courses are of a ten-month duration. The CIIL pays the teacher his salary during the training period, apart from a stipend of Rs. 400.00 per month., However on account of the fact that the services of the teachers will not be available for the schools during the training period, the concerned States have not been forthcoming in deputing enough number of teachers. There is a strong need for this teacher training programme being strengthened significantly. Specific measures that can be considered are:

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* Enough funds should be put in the possession of the CIIL for enhancing its training capacity. The enhanced capacity for training may be at least 1000 teachers per annum; the teacher training programmes of the CIIL should also be followed up by further correspondence courses for the continued training of teachers initially trained; teachers so trained may function as resource persons for the training of other teachers in the respective States for which appropriate programmes have to be evolved by States. The Planning Commission may provide enough funds for the purpose as part of State Plans.

* The CIIL could also organise teaching of modern Indian languages for the teachers as well as students on the Akashvani and Doordarshan (the CIIL already has a language laboratory which is equipped for, and is in fact producing, audio tapes for the teaching of modern Indian languages, even as CIEFL and KHS have audio packages for the teaching of English and Hindi respectively).

d) Learning of Hindi in the non-Hindi speaking States has come to stay and is being increasingly taken recourse to in the school system as well as outside. The teacher training capacity of the Kendriya Hindi Sansthan is also fully utilised. Nonetheless there is a large backlog in the country of untrained Hindi teachers. The capacity of the Kendriya Hindi Sansthan for teacher training should be enhanced from 275 (75 seats for residential course and 200 for correspondence course) to 750 (250+500) per annum, considering that the number of untrained Hindi teachers in the country is about 15,000.

e) Whether the medium for teaching is Hindi or any other modern Indian language, importance should be given not merely for language teacher training but also for teaching of subjects in the respective languages. I I

f) Pending ultimate switchover to the media of regional languages and Hindi for purposes of higher education, English will continue to be a vital medium for the universities and colleges. Articulating this, the Education Commission ( 19 64 -6 6) observed: "For a successful completion of the first degree a student should possess an adequate command over English, be able to express himself in it with reasonable ease and felicity, understand lectures in it and avail himself of its literature. Therefore, adequate emphasis will have to be laid on its study as a language right from the school stage. English should be the most useful library language in higher education and our most significant window on the world .... " Dealing with

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improvement in the language competencies in the students in general including English, the Programme of Action formulated under NPE 1986 called for development of textual materials, teacher training and research in the methodology of language teaching, development of infrastructural facilities, designing of remedial courses for the school and university students etc. The POA has also specifically mentioned about the NCERT, CIEFL, RIE, Bangalore and H M Patel Institute of English, Vallabh Vidyanagar coming together for study of language attainment of students. However, the fact remains that over the years, the standards of English language teaching have been going down. Though there are eleven English Language Teaching Institutes (ELTIs) at the level of the States, not all of them are of adequate standards. As of now, only the Regional Institute of English, Bangalore and the H M Patel Institute of English have been active. Most of the other institutions have been suffering for want of adequate and suitable man-power resources and infrastructure. Even in the use of Central assistance offered during the Seventh Five Year Plan period through the CIEFL, the ELTIs have not been uniformally effective or dynamic. The CIEFL, in early 1990, conducted a national seminar on the teaching of English at secondary level and took stock of the situation obtaining in the country. The following, among the main recommendations made by this Seminar should be brought under early implementation:

- The ELTIs should be put on a sound footing with minimal core staff, the strength of which is to be enhanced depending upon the number of programmes and projects undertaken by them.

- The ELTIs should offer in-service training programmes for all categories of functionaries English language teachers, Inspectors, Supervisors, Headmassters etc.; they should undertake need based extension and research work, produce teaching and testing materials; and bring out programmes for learners and teachers of English on the Akashvani and Doordarshan.

- The ELTIs should monitor the programmes of District Centres for saturation training of school teachers in English (as of now, there are 25 District Centres in the country).

- The States should provide adequate financial and other resources to the ELTIs.

- Panels of experts in English language teaching should be prepared and maintained at the State and national levels. Their expertise should be availed

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of by taking their assistance on consultancy basis for promoting English language learning/teaching.

- A series of regional seminars/workshops should be organised with a view to re-design the English component of B.Ed and TTC courses.

- Survays of learner sub-populations have to be undertaken . to make analysis of such populations from the point of view of teaching English (this is based on the recognition that in backward and rural areas, sub-populations have specific needs in the matter of learning English).

Language Media for Higher Education

The Education Commission 1964-66, dealing with a common medium in higher education, had pointed out the advantages of education through the regional languages; had advised avoidance of any policy of drift; and had suggested that the U.G.C. and the universities should carefully work out a feasible programme suitable for each university or group of universities. It had called for a change over to the regional languages media over a ten-year time- frame. The Programme of Action under the 1986 policy emphasised the need for progressive adoption of modern Indian languages as media at the university stage. It also called for specific decisions by the State Governments in consultation with universities, preparation and production of textual materials, orientation of university teachers, and translation of books from English into Indian languages. Further, it called for efforts on the part of the UGC to identify measures to ensure adoption of modern Indian languages in a time bound manner. Nonetheless, progress in this regard has not been uniform or satisfactory. The Education Commission 1964-66 considered the production of University level textbooks in regional languages, a major step in the switch over to the media of these languages. The commission had also observed " .... nor should we get involved in the vicious circle 'no production because no demand' and no demand because no production".

The Suresh Dalal Committee constituted by the Government to go into the scheme for production of university level books in modern Indian languages, has recommended the continuance of assistance under the scheme. Under this scheme, a capital of Rs.1.00 crore each was given to the States by the Government of India. This was meant to be used as a revolving fund for continuous production of university level books. In many States, the books produced not having been sold, the scheme came to a stand-still.

(ii) The programme of production of university level books in Indian languages should go side by side with

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conscious decisions on the part of universities/States in consultation with the UGC for switch over to the Indian languages media. The modification that can be thought of in the implementation of this scheme in future is that the production of text books may be left Primarily to the universities. The objective of this modification is one of securing an agency which will be the producer as well as the consumer of the books.

(iii) In order to facilitate speedier switch over to regional language media, at least options may be given to students for taking examinations at all levels in the regional language media. (In Maharashtra, for example, already this facility is being provided to postgraduate students).

(iv) In order that an overall environment for switch over to the regional languages is created, apart from promoting the interests of national integration, in the higher education system, provisions should be made for the teaching of Indian literature in the Indian languages.

Development of Hindi as per Article 351 of the Constitution

Article 351 of the Constitution has entrusted the Union of India with the duty "to promote the spread of the Hindi language, to develop it so that it may serve as a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India and to secure its enrichment by assimilating without interfering with its genius, the forms, style and expressions used in Hindustani and in the other languages of India specified in the Eighth Schedule, and by drawing, wherever necessary or desirable, for its vocabulary, primarily on Sanskrit and secondarily on other languages". In order to fulfil the above mandate, the Government has set up the Central Hindi Directorate (CHD), the Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (CSTT), apart from the Kendriya Hindi Sansthan (KHS) to which reference has been made earlier. Specifically their activities are:-

CHD - Conduct of correspondence courses for non-Hindi speaking people; preparation of bilingual, trilingual and multilingual dictionaries with Hindi as the base.

CSTT - Evolution of scientific and technical terms.

KHS - Conduct of training programmes for Hindi teachers from non-Hindi speaking States; research in the methodologies of teaching Hindi as a second/third language.

The above programme for promotion and development of Hindi handled as they are by three different agencies, get fragmented

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in their implementation. CHD and CSTT are subordinate offices of the Department of Education whereas the KHS is an autonomous Society as already stated.

(V) With a view to strengthening and unifying the efforts for the promotion and spread of Hindi as envisaged in Article 351, these three organisations could be merged into a single institution. In view of the fact-that the nature of work of such an institution will Primarily be academic and as effective operational flexibility will be required for its meaningful role, if it is to handle its task with impact, it should be an autonomous body. The Head of the institution should be a renowned and senior Hindi scholar in the country. He should be not less in rank than a Vice-Chancellor. (An argument that could be raised in regard to the merger of CSTT into this autonomous Organisation is that it also evolves pan-Indian terminologies. These terminologies, however, are Hindi-based. In any case evolution of technical terms in regional languages is best left to the concerned State level institutions many of which have in fact done significant work).

(vi) As Article 351, inter alia, speaks about spread of Hindi language duly enriched by, and drawing from, Sanskrit and other languages, study of classical languages in the school system as part of social sciences should be provided for.

Sanskrit: Maintenance and Co-ordination of Academic Standards

The Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan (R.Skt.S) established in the year 1970 is now running six Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeths. It has also been functioning as an examining body, holding examinations for the students in forty-one traditional Sanskrit institutions, which are affiliated to it. Every year about four thousand students take these examinations. These examinations are held for various courses, Prathama to Acharya (MA) including Shiksha Shastri (B.Ed) and Shikshacharya, (M.Ed) . They also award Vidya Varidhi (Ph.D) and Vachaspati (D.Litt) degrees.

The R.Skt.S by its mandate, is essentially concentrating on Sanskrit learning in the traditional system. Universities, on the, other hand facilitate learning of Sanskrit in the non-traditional system. There are at present 65 University Departments offering Sanskrit courses. A dichotomy has come into existence in the system of Sanskrit education (as between traditional and non-traditional systems) on account of the R.Skt.S. and the Universities operating in different styles. The medium of instruction in the traditional system is Sanskrit while in the non-traditional it is English or regional languages. The products of traditional system are strong in Sanskrit but weak in English and other modern Indian languages. Those of the

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non--traditional system are strong in English/MILs. but deficient in Sanskrit education.

Independently of the R.Skt.S, Sanskrit Universities and the University Departments of Sanskrit, the Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, has also been Promoting Sanskrit education in the traditional style by funding to the extent of 95% fourteen Adarsh Sanskrit Pathshalas and two Sodhsamsthas. These institutions are uder institutional level management bodies on which Govt. functionaries are given representation.

(vii) In view of the substantial difference between the traditional and non-traditional styles of Sanskrit education and to remove the dichotomy mentioned above, there is need for a national level agency which is to lay down, maintain and co- ordinate the academic standards for Sanskrit education as whole by bringing about meaningful interaction between non-traditional and traditional styles. The R.Skt.S. could be strengthened, elevated in status and given the role of a national level Commission for the Purpose. The head of this Organisation should also enjoy the status of a Secretary to Government of India. (In this context, it is worthy of notice that the Central Sanskrit Board has advised the enhancement of the status of the R.Skt.S. as an institution of national importance.

Article 350 A: Instruction in the Mother Tongue-Problem of the Urdu Speaking People__and Development of Urdu.

Urdu occupies the sixth position among the languages of India in terms of the number of those who speak this language. According to 1981 census, the number of Urdu speakers is 35 million constituting 5.34% of the total population of India.

Urdu is an indigenous language and is widely spoken by all sections of Indian people belonging to all faiths, castes and creeds. It belongs to the whole country and has an inter-state character. It is not the concern of any one State or community. The responsibility for its development already stands shared by the Central Government.

The Government of India appointed a Committee in 1972 under the Chairmanship of Shri I.K.Gujral, the then Minister of State for Works & Housing for the promotion of Urdu. The Committee submitted its report in 1975. Over the years, there has been persistent public demand to implement the recommendations of the Gujral Committee particularly giving Urdu its due place in education. Early in 1990, the Government appointed a Committee of Experts under the Chairmanship of Shri Ali Sardar Jafri, to examine implementation of Gujral Committee recommendations. (The NPE Review Committee has had- interaction with the Jafri Committee.) One of the major recommendations of Gujral Committee

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which has been accepted by the Jafri Committee, is the provision for adequate safeguards for the Urdu linguistic minority at the primary and secondary levels of education.