Some protagonists of MOI (medium of instruction) claim students should not study in a foreign language but in their mother tongue.
If some parents and their children reject this view it is because even though English may not be their mother tongue it is certainly nothing less than their step mother's tongue. In the twenty-first century we have a lot of linguistic mothers, and a lot of tongues. The government, so far, has shown flexibility on this issue. The Church managed English medium schools are supported financially though the mother tongue of the learners might be Konkani or Marathi or some other language. It is a broad vision which is to be welcomed by everyone. Give grants to all government schools, if they want to study in English or not. Don't deprive the poor and penalize them because they want to study in English. Education is empowerment, and English is a tool of empowerment. It is a good investment, and the investment will return several times back to the government and society in future. Don't be myopic and petty minded. Don't compel children to study in their mother tongue in a society which is multilingual and different from countries which are largely monolingual. And, if according to some people, studying in English makes learners into Englishmen and Englishwomen, it applies of course to all learners in all schools: government, church-managed and private schools. Let us not add hypocrisy to the mix. Parents have the right to choose the medium of instruction for their children's education at the primary level. The children are theirs, and do not belong to the government. Upper castes need to put an end to a mindset of exploitation of thousands of years which was institutionalized by the wily priestly class to rationalize and keep the study of Sanskrit from everyone except themselves. We should not do the same injustice to lower castes today, not in the age of Space Travel and The Internet. Give lower castes parents and children an equal opportunity to choose their medium of instruction. And, by doing so, acknowledge them as equal human beings, equal to all other people in India. No need for thought and taught control, please. Everyone is equal before the law so allow social justice to fall in step. As I said earlier, the government is showing some flexibility. Freedom is given to learners in church managed primary schools; in future, extend this free to government schools, too. The church managed and private schools are free to teach in English. Government schools should also be given this right! The only catch - according to some critics - is the government will not support private schools financially - as they do the church managed schools. But this is not much of an issue as children who attend private schools are taken care of by their wealthy parents who can afford to pay the high tuition fees of private schools. No problem with butter as their parents can afford jam and cake, too. If they can't the children will have to enlist in church-managed schools or government schools if all schools get grants. Now, if studying in the mother tongue is a universal valid linguistic principle and sacrosanct, then it applies to all students wherever they might be studying. Learners who attend government, church-managed, and private schools. Surely, this much ought to be clear to everyone. Otherwise, there can be only one reason for doing this: don't allow the poor an equal playing field! Keep them downtrodden in India for as long as possible. We have done it successfully in the past when Sanskrit was the gold standard of linguistic power and respectability, and are doing it again with English. In the twenty-first century we should not try and keep the poor from advancement in society by preventing them from studying in English from the primary school level. English is the international language in the world today - it is here, there, and everywhere. And, it is for everyone.
