The Hindu Business Line : English demands inclusive growth!

It is time India adopted a more mature and enlightened attitude to the place of the English language in our national life — from schools to courts to commerce. As if reminders of the steadily declining standards of English were needed, a reputed survey report in this paper reveals that less than 14 per cent of India’s graduates satisfy the standards of international employers. The same front page also carries reports of global organisations eager to recruit top level as well as junior professional talent out of India. Meanwhile, own software giants, to our dismay, have gone on record that just a quarter of Indian graduates are employable, the chief lacunae in their education being the poor communication skills and soft skills. This alarming state of affairs will only get worse as China drives the adoption of the language with characteristic speed and zeal, narrowing our historical competitive advantage.

Unwelcome reminder

Thus, yet another facile hype, about India’s huge population fluent in the use of English, stands exposed — just as the much-talked about US sized mini economy of 300 million Indian middle-class, in the early 1990s. The rapid decline of both academic standards and usage of English in all walks of life during the past four decades or so, needs little debate. A combination of studied neglect, particularly in the Hindi-speaking regions, and the deliberate disregard for the three-language formula that Jawaharlal Nehru had conceived and the perverse view that English is an unwelcome reminder of a colonial legacy has led to this state of affairs.

What is far more critical for today, but almost ignored in all policy discussions, is the link between the poor quality of English in education in general, on the one hand, and the economic development of the Gangetic plain region that is notoriously backward. Without such a foundation the widely-acknowledged digital divide and the industrial investment divide will continue to grow alarmingly. What is worse, all hope of narrowing disparities through inclusive growth also demands the same degree of attention to primary and secondary level education that opens the doors to a wider range of resources available through the English language.

Needed, a national drive

Fortunately, the solution for this situation is known, available and fairly easy to implement. Raising of standards is a matter of providing learning opportunities at the learner’s own pace, wherever he happens to live. The perfect answer to this is the use of media, electronic communication, the Internet as well as the enormous talent in software that is so readily to hand in India. There is no reason why the highest quality of spoken and written language, with attention to grammar, syntax, and idiom cannot be imparted through all the available media — from the audio cassette to the DVD and beyond.

All we need is the vision, a change in lenses away from traditional prejudices; and the freedom for all concerned to collaborate in this as a national effort, regardless of who pays for it or where the help comes from in terms of the material. A national drive no less, in classrooms, in offices and in factories indeed is indicated and the country has the wherewithal to make it happen.

S. RAMACHANDER

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