CHA P T E R 7

MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION : ITS PROVINCE AND PROBLEMS

7.1 Medium of Instruction and Language : Its Meaning

Medium of instruction means the language through which

education is imparted to the children in the different levels of the

educational system. The relation between instruction and its medium

is an indispensable one.

Now the question arises - what is language? In answering

this question we may say that language is the basic medium of

interaction without which human social life could not have

originated and without which social participation above a biological

level could not be carried on. Thus, language is the product of

culture. It is a vehicle of expression.

Oxford Dictionary of English language defines language as a

system of sounds, words, patterns etc. used by human to communicate

thoughts and feelings and to convey information. It also defines

language as a whole body of words and methods of combination of

words used by a section or group of people fas a nation, community

etc.). Sturtevent defines language as 'a system of arbitrary vocal

symbols by which members of a social group co-operate and

inter-act'.
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7.2 Significance of medium of instruction

Medium of instruction plays a vital role in imparting

lessons to the learners. It is assumed that it becomes easier for

the students if their lessons are taught through their mother tongue

or through a common language. But in a country like India with

heterogeneous linguistic population, the issue of the selection of

the medium of instruction for the educational institutions has posed

to be a burning problem and to sort out a solution many commissions

have been constituted in the country both before and after

independence. The constitution of India, adopted after Indian

independencef in November 26, 1950, has made a special reference to

the medium of instruction of the country.

It is natural for a vast country like India to be

multilingual but at the same time the country must also have a

medium of instruction for its national system of education.

In ancient India the medium of instruction at higher level

was Sanskrit. This was replaced by Persian in the medieval period.

In the modern period English acquired this role and made a very deep

impact in every part of the country and more so in eastern, southern

and western India.

Here we may mention the major contribution of Lord Macaulay's

Minute in the field of Indian education. Since the dawn of 19th

century, there emerged two groups among the officials of the East

India Company. One group was the orientalists, who wanted the
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progress of Indian Education through the medium of Sanskrit, Arabic

and Persian, whereas the other group was that of the Anglicists, who

were in favour of developing western education in India through the

medium of English.

During this violent oriental and occidental controversy,

Lord Macaulay came to India as a Law Member of the Council of

Governor General on June 10, 1834. According to the charter of 1833,

he was appointed Law Member of the Governor General's Council. Lord

William Bentinck appointed him as the Chairman of the society of

Public Instruction of Bengal. On February 2, 1835, Macaulay put

forward the educational minutes where he supported the spread of

western education through the medium of English language in India.

In proving English to be the most useful language for

Indians, he gave the following facts in its favour :

1. English is the language of the Rulers and highly placed Indians

use it.

2. It is possible for English to be the language of trade and

commerce in the Eastern waters.

3. The progressive Europeans of Australia and Africa also use

English and their relations with India are increasing day by day.

4. Latin and Greeks had brought resurrection in England, similarly

English will do the same in India.

5. Indians themselves are in favour of studying English more than

Arabic or Sanskrit or Persian.

6. Indians might be made learned in English literature and it is the

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duty of the Government to make efforts for it.

7. The students of oriental institutions want the financial help,

whereas the students reading in English school are ready to pay

fees, etc.

Though Lord Macaulay was not faultless, yet it cannot be

ignored that with the expansion of English education system he

helped political awakening, scientific sense and economic develop­

ments .

English education brought Indians in contact with foreign

countries and helped than to gain inspiration for independence from

many other countries.

Lord Macaulay has a remarkable place in originating the

modern education system in India and the history of Indian education.

Shri Dada Bhai Nadrozi has said, 'After all, his motives were not

dishonourable and it is always good to forget and forgive'.*

During the freedom movement the need for developing the

different mother tongues (regional languages) was felt with

political awakening and regional consciousness. But it must be

admitted that the freedom fighters were educated through English

language and western culture. Most of the countries cannot give up

the use of English for more than one reason. Because it is English

education which helped them get their ideas on freedom and

self-government and enabled them to fight for the independence of

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their countries. In the multilingual contexts of these countries

English became a unifying force and helped the freedom fighters

propagate the ideas of nationalism and self-rule. It is only for the

use of English language, India, being a multilingual country would

have a scope to emerge as a united nation.

After independence, in 1956 the states of India were

reorganised on a linguistic basis and it was decided to make the

mother tongue the medium of instruction and examination at all

levels, including the university levels. English had become the

symbol of foreign rule and of domination of an alien culture. Hindi

was adopted as the official language of India and other oriented

programmes were drawn up for the development of Hindi language and

other 15 Indian regional languages incorporated in the VIII schedule

to the constitution of India. Recently three other regional

languages are also recognised by the constitution of India which are

also included in VIII schedule of the constitution. They are namely

Konkani (Goa), Manipuri (Manipur) and Nepali (Sikkim) language.

But the problem of medium of instruction is still there and

no final and static solution has so far been evolved out to tide

over this erratic problem and more particularly in Assam the problem

of the medium of instruction appears to be very critical where there

are demands for mother-tongue or even dialect as the medium of

instruction in the schools of the concerned areas inhabited by

different ethnic groups within the. state of Assam.

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For not having a clear and definite policy in this respect,

Ilie ml nor Ily and backward claimon of Lho norleLy, I Ik <> llodo , Karl) I,

Tal , Manlpurl etc. have been still lacing problem in the field of

education. As a result, the society has to face many agitational

programmes which have . in turn given rise to some revolutionary

organisations like URMCA, BSF, Rabha Hasang Demand Committee etc.

Under such circumstances a comprehensive, elaborate study

and scientific analysis is needed which will involve not only

conceptual analysis regarding medium of instruction but also a good

acquaintance with the problem of education of the state.

7.3 Statement of the problem

Like India, Assam is inhabited by people of different

linguistic groups. Although the Brahmaputra valley is predominated

by Assamese which is considered to be the sole medium of instruction

in the educational institutions, yet at the same time, there exist a

number of English, Hindi and Bengali medium Secondary schools to

meet the demands of other linguistic communities and more

particularly in the urban areas of the state, apart from the fact

that the demand in the Barak Valley is in favour of Bengali. Further,

the different tribal communities living in Assam have raised their

demand to introduce their mother tongue or dialects as the medium of

instruction in the schools established in their locality. In the

educational field the demand for admission into the English medium

schools have been increasing remarkably in the recent years.

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A three language formula was suggested for the country under

which every student would be required to study three languages, such

as — mother tongue and two other modern languages. Hindi is to serve

as official medium and a link language for the majority of people

for inter-state communication and English as an associate official

medium and a link language for higher education and also for

intellectual and international communications.

Under the scheme of the three language formula — a student

(i) in Hindi speaking states will have to study —

Hindi

English and

one of the South Indian Languages, and

(ii) in Non-Hindi speaking states —

Hindi, the regional language and

English have to be studied.

However, the three language formula could not be applied in its

original form. As a result, English has continued to play an

important role in the country as the official language. Hindi is

also not yet in a position to replace English as the link language.

So far as the use of the mother-tongue as medium of instruction and

examination is concerned the general opinion was that at the school

level the mother-tongue may be made the exclusive medium of

instruction and examination and at the university level it may be

adopted as an alternative medium. The responsibilities for actual

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implementation of this policy was left to the universities. The

result was that the actual practice is not uniform. Rather the

country is placed between two extremes. In Hindi speaking states,

the mother tongue is being extensively used as the medium of

instruction and examination at the university level even upto the

post-graduate level. In some of the universities Hindi is the

exclusive medium in non-science subjects and in some states English

has been made an optional subject. But on the other hand, in the

southern states, as also in Maharastra, Orissa, West Bengal, Assam,

Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir/English continues to be the sole medium

of instruction and examination at the post-graduate level. At the

s'
undergraduate .leye'l in some of the states the regional language is

permitted as the alternative medium, but in actual practice not more

■than 10% students prefer to study through the medium of mother

tongue or regional language. Therefore, except Hindi and Gujarati no

other regional languages are yet being used as medium of instruction

in an effective manner in the educational institutions in some of

the states.

Again, in some of the states no single mother tongue can be

used as the medium of instruction In examination and in the

administration.

Again, there is the problem’ of linguistic minorities. For

example — in Bihar there are large number of people whose

mother-tongue is Maithili, Magadhi, Bhojpuri and Urdu. Similarly, in

Assam Bengali speaking minority people demand Bengali as medium of

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instruction in educational institutions. Same is the case with Bodo,

Garo, Rabha etc. In Andhra-Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, a good

number of people demand urdu medium. Rather in every state, apart

from dominant regional languages, there are other minority languages

and it would be very expensive to make arrangements for imparting

education through the medium of all these languages. So English

alone can be the common medium of education for all sections of

these people, specially in the higher classes till the national

language Hindi is in a position to command universal acceptance in

the country.

The researcher , therefore, proposes to make an

investigation into the problems relating to medium of instruction in

the secondary schools of Assam with special reference to Kamrup

district. The title of the thesis, therefore,is — ’AN INVESTIGATION

INTO THE PROBLEMS RELATING TO MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION IN THE SECONDARY

SCHOOLS OF ASSAM WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO KAMRUP DISTRICT*.

7.4 Reasons for selection of medium problems at the secondary stage

The researcher has selected the problems of the medium of

instruction at the secondary schools of the state for the following

reasons.

1. Assam appears to be a mini India with her diverse population and

linguistic as well as ethnic groups. As in other parts of the

country, a tendency has grown up here in this state also to get

everybody's dialects as the medium of instruction in the educa-

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tional institutions and becomes successful at least in primary

level.

2. All dialects, on the other hand, have not occupied the status of

the medium of instruction in the secondary schools. Hence, a

section 0f the students who got their primary education through

the medium of their own dialect, face great trouble at the

secondary level of education.

3. As the medium of instruction becomes varies at the secondary

level of the educational institutions of this state, it becomes a

problem to maintain a uniform standard to judge the merit of the

students at the higher secondary school leaving or high school

leaving certificate examinations.

4. The teachers also face the problems in the classes to make those

students understand the difficult lessons if they cannot express

it through exact terms of the concerned dialects. Because in our

state, even in the twentieth century, there is a dearth of

subject-teacher specially in the different minor languages. So we

should frame such a policy on the language teaching and on the

medium which would suit all.

7.5 Objectives of the present study

The main objectives of the present study are —

1. to find out the major causes of the problem of the medium of

instruction (which are already mentioned) in the secondary

schools of the state of Assam.

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2. to make an enquiry into the historical background of the Assamese

language as the medium of instruction in the educational institu­

tions .

3. to examine the reasons fo/ increasing English learning tendency

of the middle class as well as the upper class people of Assam,

leading to the growth and development of English medium schools

in recent years.

4. to analyse the problem and to make suitable recommendations for

solving the same, taking into considerations the various

suggestions made by different commissions and the personnel

related with the secondary schools of Assam with special

reference to the district of Kamrup.

5. to make the government conscious for financially extending

helping hand to improve the physical conditions of the schools of

backward areas and to publish required numbers of text books,

dictionaries on different languages, glossaries and other

essential reference books. Besides, to make necessary provisions

to provide sufficient mental and physical incentives to backward

students with a view to arousing motivation towards studies.

Throughout the course of investigation care has been taken

to proceed on the proper track within the limited scope of the

present study.
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7.6 Hypothesis to be tested

(a) Major Hypothesis

For rot having a clear cut linguistic policy regarding medium

of instruction, the situation in Assam has gradually become

chao^_ This has caused erosion in the Assamese society and

nationality, causing disintegration among the people of Assam.

b) Minor Hypothesises

(i) Although re-organisation of the states in India was made in

1956 on linguistic basis, no special study and consideration

was made in respect of Assam considering her variety of

linguistic groups. As a result, different section of the

linguistic groups have been trying to establish the importance

and dominance of their own language through the medium of

instruction in the educational institutions.

(ii) It is also observed that the schools in Assam are not well

managed, well-equipped, well-disciplined and well administered.

On the other hand, some of the English medium schools show

better results in comparision to other medium schools. It is to

be investigated how the medium of instruction plays its role

in the betterment of results. A thorough statistical analysis

will prove this truth clearly.

(iii) Again, it is felt that the English medium schools pay special

attention to the psycho-physical aspects of the pupils for the

all round development of their faculties which are considered

to be the contre-point of Modern Educational theory and

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practice. But in most of the other schools nothing is looked

into in that line. Except a few, in most of the schools in

rural areas the instruction imparted is, more or less, bookish

and theoretical due to which most of the students cannot show

desired academic attainment. The investigator, therefore,

feels that a comprehensive study in this sphere is of utmost

necessity which will set up on permanent basis, the real datum

of this caustic problem of medium of instruction, suggesting

accurate and genuine solutions.

7.7 Documents to be studied

For proper investigation, following documents are considered

to be important for study. They are namely —

(i) Syllabi of the Gauhati University, Dibrugarh University and

other universities of India with special emphasis upon the

syllabi of Secondary Education Board of Assam (SEBA) and

Secondary Board of Meghalaya and the Assam Higher Secondary

Education Council constituted in 1984.

(ii) Reports of the experts of the universities, Educationists etc.

(iii) The reports of the education commissions before and after

independence.

Civ) Historical documents of the Assam language movements.

(v) Historical materials regarding educational policy of the

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Britishers to spread English language among the Indians.

(vi) The Assam Official Language Act of 1960 and other official

records and documentary materials.

(vii) Periodicals, journals, Newspapers and records in different

libraries, etc.