Mother tongue shouldn’t be imposed: Supreme Court

As the English versus mother tongue debate continues, the Supreme Court questioned the rationale behind imposition of mother tongue as a compulsory medium of instruction in educational institutions, saying it could adversely affect students’ interests in the competitive world dominated by English, reports Satya Prakash.

As the English versus mother tongue debate continues, the Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the rationale behind imposition of mother tongue as a compulsory medium of instruction in educational institutions, saying it could adversely affect students’ interests in the competitive world dominated by English.

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If states tried to impose mother-tongue on unwilling students, it could prove counter-productive and make them ineligible even for clerical jobs, a bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan said over the Karnataka government’s decision to make Kannada a compulsory medium of instructions for primary education.

“They are unable to get even clerical posts. It is easy to say things. How do we survive in the world?” the bench said refusing to stay a Karnataka HC verdict quashing the state’s decision to make it mandatory for all schools — government and private — to impart primary education in Kannada.