While teaching at a school, several parents would walk up to me professing their desire that their wards become as fluent and articulate in English as me. Other teacher colleagues never experienced such a situation. Such is the value of English in India!
Union home minister Amit Shah, who chairs the Parliamentary Official Language committee, had announced that Hindi would be made compulsory in all eight northeastern states up to Class 10. He said that 2,200 Hindi teachers had been recruited in the Northeast, adding that Hindi was the “language of India”. He had, however, clarified that Hindi should be an alternative to English and not local languages. In the Northeast region, Hindi is compulsorily taught till Class 8 except in Arunachal Pradesh, where the language is the lingua franca, it is a mandatory subject till Class 10. In Tripura, Hindi is not compulsory till any class.
Ever since the NDA came to power at the Centre it has taken a clear stand in support of Hindi, pushing for it to replace English as the preferred language of the Government of India. The Centre’s latest proposal to make Hindi compulsory till Class 10 in the Northeast region is being seen as an extension of this stand. The decision as expected has drawn sharp reactions from several NE states.
The primary aim of a language is communication, versatility, and spread. There is no alternative to English, this international language that has been popular throughout the globe for centuries. It is an aspirational language that is linked with social mobility and economic prosperity. Otherwise, why should there be massive enrolment of students in English-medium schools?     
Hindi being pushed as an alternative to English is utterly misplaced and will not happen anytime soon. The very people who vow to push Hindi on various platforms are the ones who are most inclined to have their children study in English schools preferably in foreign countries. There is nothing wrong with promoting Hindi where there is desire and demand for it. However, imposing the language as an “alternative” to English is not only delusional but will also confuse the education system and the biggest losers will be the students and the youths.
English cannot be looked upon as a language of India’s colonizers in this day and age and treated likewise; the practically proven truth is that there is no alternative to the English language. In our attempt to downgrade English, we are only fooling ourselves.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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