The primary teacher who uses the child’s language has a great advantage | The Indian Express

The primary teacher who uses the child’s language has a great advantage | The Indian Express

Written by Krishna Kumar |Updated: November 21, 2019 9:39:19 am

The writer, professor of education at University of Delhi, was director of  NCERT from 2004 to 2010

The primary teacher who uses the child’s language has a great advantage

Without exception, all policy documents favour the mother tongue as the best medium of education, especially in the early grades.

In Andhra Pradesh, the government hopes that English-medium instruction will have a transformative effect.

The language used by teachers to explain is known as “medium of instruction” in our system. This usage has a considerable history now. It reminds us that education was once regarded as instruction. One would like to believe that things have changed now and that education now covers a wider spectrum of efforts and effects. Had this change in the public perception of education actually occurred, no one would easily share the Andhra Pradesh government’s hope that children studying in government schools will now have a bright future because they are going to switch to English medium instruction from Grade I.