The Women and Child Development Ministry submitted a proposal to the Centre last week,with plans to introduce teaching in the mother tongue or local vernacular language in playschools. English will be taught but will not be the medium of instruction. Defenders of vernacular schooling have welcomed this move,arguing that without it,the younger generations will be alienated from their cultural identity. In India,this decision is controversial as English is viewed as the gateway to social mobility. With English as the language of choice for most governments,how important is the reassertion of native languages? MALAYSIA The 1967 National Language Act attempted symbolic gratification of the Malay language. The official attitude towards English was always more towards persuasive adjustment rather than deliberate suppression. Regardless of the medium of instruction (English,Malay,Chinese or Tamil),Malay and English are taught as compulsory languages from the first year of primary school with the exception of publicly funded vernacular schools (known as national type schools). In the latter,either Mandarin or Tamil are taught as additional compulsory languages. SRI LANKA After gaining independence in 1948,the use of English for government policies came under attack and the 1956 Language Act established Sinhala as the nations official language until 1978 when an amendment acknowledged Tamil as the official language. Today,parents of both Sinhalese and Tamil children,who have adopted English as their mother tongue,apply for permission for their children to join English classes in schools. All students studying in Sinhalese are also taught Tamil as a second language,and vice versa. SPAIN Some state schools,both primary and secondary,teach in the dialect of the given regionas opposed to in Spanish. So,in Catalonia,Galicia,Valencia or the Basque country,subjects are taught in the language of the regionValencian,Gallego,Catalan or Basque. During public primary education,students develop Spanish (Castellano) language skills. Once a child reaches the final year of primary school they begin with the basics of a foreign language,usually English. CHINA English is a required language from Class III onwards,although the quality of instruction varies and most do not speak it well. The 2001 Law on Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language states that Chinese textbooks used should be in conformity with the norms of the standard spoken and written Chinese language. africa and the middle east In Algeria,Morocco,and Tunisia,French is the most widely studied language besides the native Arabic,while in Egypt and the Gulf countries (such as UAE,Kuwait,and Oman),English is the main supplementary language. VENEZUELA There are at least 40 languages,but Spanish is the most widely spoken. All children are taught Spanish and,at the age of six,they are introduced to the basics of English in secondary school. According to the Ministry of Education,English is a tool to communicate with people from other countries and is used for obtaining information in the fields of humanities,technology and science. NEPAL According to the 2011 census,there are 122 languages spoken in the country. Almost all subjects are taught in English,except for Nepali literature. There has been a significant rise in the number of English-medium schools and a decline in Nepali medium schools. Except for government-funded schools,there are very few Nepali-medium schools. Higher education is taught entirely in English.
