The de-recognition of over 2,000 English medium schools by the Government of Karnataka at one stroke which had obtained permission to teach in Kannada and later the verdict of the judiciary in favour of the government has had wide reactions and responses on the issue of language. While a section of Kannada literary figures have welcomed the judgment of the high court, there have been widespread dissatisfaction among the Private Schools Owners Association and the parents of students.

One gets the impression that the conflicting and diverse voices have not looked at the language issue objectively with a view of formulating a language policy in the changing local and global economic situation. We live in a world where languages, local or global, cannot be trivialised as something marginal and insignificant. The use of languages cannot be undermined since they play an important role in the cultural, communicational and commercial life of people.

If we look at western civilisation, three languages have played a crucial role - Greek, Latin and French. From 300 BC to 500 AD, for almost eight centuries Greek dominated the Mediterranean world. Then came Latin, the language extensively used by the Church, which remained the language of scholarly and business activities till renaissance. By the end of the18th century, with the emergence of France as a major power in international politics, French became the language of international relations, diplomacy and academics.

The colonial expansion saw the spread of Spanish in Latin American countries, Portuguese, French and English in colonies occupied by the speakers of these languages. In India, English played an important role in the freedom struggle uniting the elites from different parts of the country. However, the foreign languages did not do away with regional or indigenous languages in all the above countries.

In fact, in India, the use of English as an associate official language was to halt the imposition of Hindi on the people of South India, who were determined to preserve their own languages, identities and cultures. While Hindi was looked upon as the language of north Indians, English was or is not looked upon as a language of any dominant community. The language continues to be used for intercultural communication without becoming the language of any cultural community in India. Though not a language of any culture, English language is closely associated with power. Subaltern communities and the first generation learners are desirous of learning the language to share in power and claim their legitimate share of resources.

While there has been a craze to master English for purposes of employment, the internal social and political pressures have led increasingly to a wider use of the local language as well. No one needs to fear for the loss of the local language because there is a craze for English medium schools.  The use of English is confined to a limited number of people in India at present. Increasing that number is likely to assist more people to participate in a global economic life.

In fact, the recent debate has created a chasm between the English speaking minority that has an effective say in shaping policy and running the administration and the speakers of the local language who are in a majority but have little control over the government they choose.

To appease the electorate on one side and to perpetuate the existing dual educational system, where the children of the elite frequent English medium schools, the elected representatives have sided with the local language. Both the ruling class and the governing class would not like to see drastic changes in the language policy.

To hold that the study of English will lead to the loss of importance to local languages may not be borne by facts. The wide use of English in Tamil Nadu and Andhra has not led to the decline of Tamil or Telugu languages. While students learn and may even speak fluent English, it is the mother tongue that they use at home. In fact, most TV channels in the state of Tamil Nadu and Andhra are in the state languages and more people go to view them than before. 

The fear that prominence to English will prove detrimental to the use of Kannada is unlikely. While Kannada is a cultural language, English is purely communicational. Languages are taught in schools for functional purposes and schools are educational more than cultural in nature. Culture is imparted by homes through actual living in a family and community. Employment is one of the objectives of education. Shouldn't we also introduce other languages in our institutions to prepare global citizens to live in a global society? Of course, the choice must be left to citizens.

(The writer is Principal, St Joseph's College, Bangalore.)