The Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah recently reiterated the need to teach professional courses like Medicine, Engineering and Law in local languages and called it a moment of “renaissance and reconstruction” for the education sector. Is this a good idea?
Eons back, Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher said, “The only constant in life is change.” That said, change in Society can be brought about in two ways. One, to plan to the last detail and then implement. The second is to drive ‘change’ by ‘change’. While the first takes long to realise and may even falter and fail, the second reaps dividends in the shortest time. The government’s intent to drive ‘change’ by ‘change’ is obvious. That it termed it “renaissance and reconstruction” shows seriousness of intent. Could this be democratisation of education?
Ancient studies were essentially conducted in Sanskrit. Vedas, Vedangas, Samhitas. Puranas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads are all rooted in Sanskrit literature. As English now, Sanskrit then, was seen as the language of the elite. There must have been several other languages then as well, as there are now. Education in Sanskrit or others must have been debated even then. That realisation must have promoted education in other languages too. We would not have had as exalted development of religion and culture, if it were not so.
Unfortunately, 300 years of Mughal rule killed Sanskrit and its variants. 200 years of British rule later, promoted English. The dominance of English language snowed the Indian belief system much under its own pedagogy. This was buttressed by the infallible argument of the British that leaves all other languages indefensible. “English puts every other language at an equal disadvantage”. We then, continue thinking in native and paraphrasing in English.
India is predominantly rural with more than 6 lakh villages, each needing an urban setting of public services and facilities, currently provided by the government. We are short of doctors, nurses and hospital beds as the pandemic showed. A research of George Mason University’s Mercatus Center reminds us that compared to the world average of 150 doctors per 100,000 people, we only have 86 doctors registered for practice. Those who practice in the villages are even lower. A Primary Health Centre (PHC) sanctioned for a rural area needs at least one doctor to be functional. For the 33 of the 36 regions, more than 8500 posts are vacant. The dichotomy is that a 5+ trillion-dollar economy cannot be realised by urban participation alone while we expect the rural population to ape the urban ways. Migration can be halted only when education comes in languages, they understand and familiar to their settings. That is true whether for engineering, medicine, law or any other.
However, there are operational difficulties. For one, availability of books is poor and technical and medical literature is predominantly English. Besides, current teachers are educated in English. What can be done? Books can be translated. Often the argument is, are there equivalent words? Since language is only a medium, a hybrid mixing of Hindi or any other with English within conversations and sentences helps. Another argument is that it will promote ghettoisation. But then, will new jobs not accrue?
Technology can be a great leveller. Pre-defined text and video content can be generated using AI, ML based authoring tools. Virtual Reality can aid design, 3D modelling, editing, transformation, and testing in virtual environments. It is a universal tool to display objects, processes, locations, and historical events, with no language barriers. A big part of investments in VR education is directed towards training medical students and personnel while simulations prepare doctors and nurses, practice different clinical cases and improve skills. VR helps study complex technical material through practical tasks. 5G will enable all these. Ed-Tech companies will eventually come up with textbooks encoded with AR possibilities.
Current Professional education in the country is truly elitist. With the cost reaching the skies, children from poor families cannot dream of becoming engineers, doctors or lawyers. Those who do, opt for practice abroad or pursue higher education, leaving the country’s rural health centres tottering and rural infrastructure gasping. Engineering students too, passing out of the elite engineering colleges leave for greener pastures. We need to change the rules of the game so that children with fire in the belly, even if they are poor, study engineering, medicine, law or any other. Education in local languages is the first step to fire that passion.