CBSE’s mid-session shock to Class 9 students betrays a larger, inconsiderate disposition

The CBSE circular landed mid-May. Saying that by July’s start, a three-language framework would be compulsory for Class 9 students. No reason provided, none at least that would explain the tearing hurry to affected students. They are mid-session. So indefensible is the timing that it’s drawn a squeak even from K Annamalai, a BJP neta who’s otherwise defended the three-language policy (TLP) in the mecca of protests against it, Tamil Nadu. The Supreme Court has agreed to examine if the new policy has placed unreasonable pressure, on resources and children. The lead petition before it complains, gravely, that “mandating a compulsory subject without textbooks, trained teachers, or an assessment framework” amounts to a constitutional violation. 

But it’s not just a timing issue. There is a larger disconnect from the emotional reality of being young. Unlike in 1948, when the TLP idea was first mooted, today policymakers endlessly proclaim that they want “creative thinkers”. But they are still designing systems that run on obedience, rather than enthusiasm. It counts for nothing if a student is enchanted by Japanese or excitedly aiming to become an engineer in Germany by learning German. Now she’s got to ditch all this romance, fast, and figure out what Indian language she’ll learn from scratch, to (hopefully) keep her mother tongue company. Because the new mandate is of 2 Indian languages plus 1 foreign language. 

All this nonsense sits atop the original sin: Continuing to treat English as a “foreign language”. This is a deep misreading of modern India, where English is not some colonial sahib overstaying his welcome. The way it’s woven into the country’s economy, higher education, law, technology, pop culture, and everyday aspiration, with its many local idioms and accents, it’s indivisible from this land. 

This land is also blessed with great diversity. For example, what are they to do in Puducherry? There, French is very much a ‘native’ language, shaping both historical and cultural identity. A centralised model is a poor, even counterproductive, fit across different states. Consider the most populous one.  Uttar Pradesh has 9,508 single-teacher schools, where the whole TLP conversation would be farcical. Per 2004 Aser data, here only 27.9% of govt school (rural) children in Class 3 can read the Class 2 level text, and only 31.6% of them can do at least subtraction. So much work remains to be done to improve foundational literacy and numeracy. Basically, the TLP fetish will hurt both empowered and needy students. Education ministry should edit its policy, not children’s dreams.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/16Qy0Zk-0ms

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