NEP-2020 and new language policy for upholding the multicultural ethos

Education, especially school education, plays a crucial role in the cognitive and overall development of a child.

Sumanta Rajbanshi(sumantarajbanshi@gmail.com)Education, especially school education, plays a crucial role in the cognitive and overall development of a child. The language, adopted as a medium of instruction, is instrumental in triggering the holistic development of the child. In the context of India, it is a difficult task to choose a particular language for that purpose due to the multilingual character of Indian society. Multilingualism is an important dimension of our composite culture. There are hundreds of languages in the country and 22 constitutionally recognized languages. The National Education Policy of India 2020 (NEP 2020), designed by the K Kasturirangan Committee, appears to have considered such issues seriously and pragmatically and articulates some novel ideas regarding language teaching. An important object behind the new policy is to make the learners aware of the rich cultural heritage of the nation and to promote multilingualism as well as national unity. But there are potential challenges in the implementation of such proposals as textbooks are scarce, experienced and skilled language teachers etc.The Policy recognizes that the knowledge of the rich diversity of India should be imbibed first-hand by learners. India is a country of multiculturalism, and it is a national responsibility to preserve the essence of Indian culture and to retain that for future generations. Diversity is felt everywhere from language to food habits, from music, and dance to architecture. In a vast country like India, it is a challenge to insulate the multicultural ethos against parochial interests and regional diversities. The National Education Policy (NEP), approved by the Union Cabinet on 29th July 2020 is supposed to introduce a sea of changes in the Indian education system, thereby replacing the 1986 Policy on Education. In the NEP it is clearly stated that language is to be used as a potential tool for furthering the multiculturalism of India and familiarizing the learners with the ethos of our cultural diversity. Additionally, it may be optimally used in enhancing professional efficiency in more than one language for pursuing various careers in the present context of globalization, the confluence of diverse cultures and the emergence of numerous multinational companies expanding their activities to the nook and cranny of the country. It is apprehensible even from a cursory look that the language policy for NEP 2020 is adopted intricately to harness the efficacy of language for furthering the multicultural ethos of the country, besides the development of proficiency in the languages integrated into the curriculum. The NEP-2020 considers India as a treasure trove of culture, developed over thousands of years and manifested in the form of arts, works of literature, customs, traditions, linguistic expressions, artefacts, heritage sites, and many more. It suggests that the preservation and promotion of India's cultural wealth must be considered a high priority for the country, as it is truly important for the nation's identity as well as for its economy. Language, of course, is inextricably linked to art and culture. Art, which is available in the form of literature, plays, music, film, etc., cannot be fully appreciated without language, and naturally, to preserve and promote culture, we must preserve and promote our languages. Unfortunately, Indian languages have not received their due attention and care, and the drafting committee expresses concern over the extinction of over 220 Indian languages and dialects in the last 50 years alone, while UNESCO has declared another 197 Indian languages as 'endangered '. For preserving the multicultural ethos of the country NEP2020 adopts a language policy where it puts a remarkable thrust on a whole array of languages to be integrated into the curriculum at school and higher education. For cultural enrichment as well as national integration, all young Indians should be aware of the rich linguistic diversity of the land and the treasures that our languages contain. Therefore, the NEP-2020 recommends that all students will learn three languages in their school under the three-language formula. The choice of languages learnt will depend on the state and the students, although at least two of the three languages must be native to the country – one of which is most likely to be the local/regional language. As the policy states under the section called 'multilingualism, and power of language', "wherever possible, the medium of instruction until at least Class 5, but preferably till Class 8 and beyond, will be the home language/mother tongue/local language/regional language." Considering the serious difficulties faced by the languages on many fronts the NEP-2020 recommends the integration of Indian languages into school and higher education at every level. It suggests initiatives for ensuring high-quality learning and print materials in these languages, including textbooks, workbooks, videos, plays, poems, novels, magazines, etc. Efforts to preserve and promote all Indian languages, including classical, tribal and endangered languages, will be taken on with new vigour. Technology and crowd-sourcing, with extensive participation of the people, will play a crucial role in these efforts. Higher education institutes and more programmes in higher education are expected to use the mother tongue/local language as a medium of instruction, and/or offer programmes bilingually, to promote the strength, usage, and vibrancy of all Indian languages, besides enhancing Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER). Sanskrit which possesses rich classical literature and contains a rich knowledge system will be offered at all levels of school and higher education as an important, enriching option for students, including as an option in the three-language formula. The NEP recommends mainstreaming Sanskrit with strong offerings in school - including as one of the language options in the three-language formula - as well as in higher education considering its vast and significant contributions and richness. Sanskrit so far has been taught through either English or Hindi, and the NEP proposes teaching Sanskrit through Sanskrit. The NEP 2020 also recommends students' participation in a fun project/activity on 'The Languages of India', sometime in Grades 6-8, such as, under the 'Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat' initiative. In this project/activity, students will learn about the remarkable unity of most of the major Indian languages. Such activity is expected to give them both a sense of unity and the beautiful cultural heritage and diversity of India. In addition to high-quality offerings in Indian languages and English, the NEP recommends foreign languages, such as Korean, Japanese, Thai, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian, to be offered at the secondary level, for students to learn about the cultures of the world and to enrich their global knowledge and mobility according to their interests and aspirations. Implementing such an intricate and ambitious language policy that aims at initiating the steady flow of knowledge from one language to another and uniting young minds across diverse cultures with the same feeling of Indianness is a Herculean task. Realizing this tremendously difficult task the new policy holds that India will urgently expand its translation and interpretation efforts to make high-quality learning materials and other important written and spoken material available to the public in various Indian and foreign languages. For this, an Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation (IITI) will be established. Such an institute would provide a truly important service for the country, as well as employ numerous multilingual language and subject experts, and experts in translation and interpretation, which will help to promote all Indian languages. The IITI shall also make extensive use of technology to aid in its translation and interpretation efforts. The policy also recommends high-quality textbooks, including in science, to be made available in home languages. There will be a major effort from both the Central and State governments to invest in large numbers of language teachers in all regional languages around the country, and, in particular, for all languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India. States, especially States from different regions of India, may enter into bilateral agreements to hire teachers in large numbers. Thus the NEP-2020 is going to initiate a great paradigm shift in language teaching. A lot of things have been suggested in the NEP-2020 regarding language teaching and harnessing the power of language for national unity that sound novel and soothing to the ear, but time will tell whether those are practically achievable or workable.

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