Guest: English the language of the future, let's equip our kids, says Dr N Prabhudev

An English-medium education system is one that uses English as the primary medium of instruction—particularly where English is not the mother tongue of the students.

Private English medium schools are popular throughout India as urban middle class Indians who feel that English is the global language send their children to these schools. More and more families from poorer circumstances are also opting for English-medium schools, no matter how small, due to the poor quality of education in government-run vernacular-medium schools.

Despite opposition from pro-Kannada activists, the state government has issued an order to introduce English as a medium of instruction at government schools from the coming academic year.

Financial assistance of Rs 14 crore has been allocated for this. The order mentions that in the first phase of the initiative, English education should be implemented at the Class 11 level, at the 1000 government schools that have been chosen. At model schools that are functioning from the 2017-18 academic year, it is mandatory to introduce English.

Rationalisation and merging of schools is a compulsion in the context of migration of students to English medium schools. Lately, schools following the vernacular medium are experiencing ‘Empty Nest Syndrome’ as students are migrating from vernacular language medium schools to English-medium schools and there is a move to merge schools. This is in the interest of keeping schools alive, as well as ensuring that the students get the best standard of education.

Now, knowing English is vital as it is the language of computers.It is the language of business across globe. Most modern technology is conceived, invented, reinvented and modernized on foreign shows. English is maintained as the language of the gadget’s instruction manual so that it can be accessed globally.

It is the language of Science and it is the language the world speaks. The lack of fluency in English can be a huge hindrance and research also shows that it enables children to develop better thinking skills.

Ideally, we should have a blend of English and mother tongue, where parents teach the kids in the mother tongue and schools teach in English with some sort of a bridge facilitated by both of them. This world has become a global village and English has become its global language. Therefore, knowledge of good English, in today’s world is not a power that one possess but a necessity that every talented individual should master.

The writer is former VC, RGUHS