Do we need to learn a foreign Language?

India’s HRD Minister, Smriti Irani, has courted controversy yet again, by the act of non- renewal of an MOU, originally signed in 2011, with the German government, that allowed for teaching German in about 500 odd Kendriya Vidyalayas. This action had 2 unintended consequences: a diplomatic fall out with Anjela Merkel seeking clarifications during the G-20 summit meet & parents of effected school children approaching the courts domestically. The Minister has argued that the MOU is against the 3 language policy- which is technically right - illegal & against “national interest”. While she has batted for Sanskrit & other regional languages in the 8^th schedule as the alternative there is a need to deliberate on a language policy that shall serve India’s interests well & enhance the employment opportunities of our demographic dividend.

The 3 language formula, enunciated in the National Policy Resolution, 1968 and reiterated in the National Policy on Education, 1986, provides for Hindi, English and modern Indian language (preferably one of the southern languages) in the Hindi speaking states and regional language, Hindi & English in the non-Hindi speaking States. However, in a startling revelation, Kiren Rijiju, MOS Home, in a written reply to Parliament, has indicated that states in India follow a 3+/-1 formula; Tamil Nadu, Puducherry & Tripura follow a 2 language policy with Hindi left out while Hindi speaking states do not teach a south Indian language as the third language. Obviously, these actions by the states are guided by either rabid parochial interests or employment potential of such a policy.
 

12 million Indians tread with trepidation into the workforce every year, unsure if their education would provide them gainful employment. The National sample Survey (NSSO) data indicates that 10 million jobs per year were created during the previous NDA regime (1998-2004) while the figure for the subsequent UPA regime was 2.7 million per annum. Statistics, therefore, highlights that irrespective of the governments in power, a substantial chunk of the population is either not getting absorbed or worse still being underemployed, perhaps in agriculture, leading to an adverse impact on productivity. This calls for addressing the problem of unemployment with speed & dexterity; else, there is a real problem of the demographic dividend getting quickly transformed into a demographic curse & the deleterious consequences of economic inequality & social strife thereof.

To ameliorate the unemployment situation in the country, the Prime Minister has launched the “Made in India” slogan to boost manufacturing which incidentally is an extension of the previous regime’s National Manufacturing Policy (NPT) that envisages improving the share of manufacturing GDP from 16% to 25% & creating 100 million jobs by 2025. While growth in manufacturing & the consequent growth in ancillary service sector jobs, acting as a force multiple, is welcome, it is perhaps evident that absorbing the large incremental additions to the workforce would be a gargantuan task even for the most efficient of governments. The drop in recruitments in large service sectors like IT & Telecom makes the situation, indeed, precarious. The PM probably realises the gravity of the situation & hence has prompted that India should achieve its potential of providing labour force to the entire world; the data point to buttress the argument being the median age of India’s population at 27 years while the corresponding figure for China & US population is 37, Japan & Germany is 46. He has specifically pointed to the possibility of India exporting a bulk of the teachers, nurses et al to the world. I add to his pronouncements, the possibility of strengthening India’s position as the back-office of the world by providing BPO services in languages other than English which today serves as the major link language in this business. Add to that the possibility of providing blue collar workers like plumbers, electricians, mechanics, housekeepers et al apart from our regular dose of highly skilled manpower in the STEM area (science, technology, engineering & Medicine) Clearly, when we aspire to be the largest exporter of labour,  knowledge of a foreign language is critical.

The top 10 economies in the world attract the largest no of Indian students either for higher studies, employment or both & businessmen for their economic pursuits; providing an opportunity for learning languages like Mandarin, Japanese, German, French etc. should therefore be encouraged without burdening students with a 4/5 language policy. About 7 million Indians work in West Asia & knowing that this figure would only go up in future, it is but natural that we encourage the study of Arabic & Persian too. It is pertinent to note that remittances from West Asia have driven the economy of Kerala & have also helped in managing India’s Current Account deficit (CAD).

The growing cosmopolitanism in the country, courtesy labour mobility across states provides another challenge to the 3 language policy which recommends the medium of education in the mother tongue to be the best. For students who are constantly shifting across states or across countries, an “English Medium” school with Hindi as the 2^nd language & probably a foreign language as the 3^rd language would be more pertinent since they do not actually gain much learning a regional language or Sanskrit unless their express aim is to become a linguist. Likewise for a person in the non-Hindi speaking states with international ambitions knowledge of the regional language, English & a foreign language would be more useful. Therefore, rather than advocating fixed frameworks, it would be prudent to allow students to take their “Language” calls.

Thus, the current controversy is perhaps the best opportunity to evolve a better language policy with the objective of making the Indian population more mobile - nationally & internationally - & consequently more employable.

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