Bangalore: English (reading, writing and speaking) is restricted to the rulers- meaning the upper castes. They don’t want the slaves of India to learn English as that would help their liberation.
The upper castes (15%) went up only by mastering English though a large portion of rulers still lack proficiency in English.
They captured all important posts and positions because they were the first to learn English. Having gone up, they scented the danger of allowing the slaves to learn English.
Mother tongue mania: So they created the “mother tongue mania” among our people who remained mere clerks and peons condemned for not learning English The rulers have kept English as their close preserve. Even after 62 years of “independence” English is restricted to about 3%. Salves are enjoying their slavery because of the “mother tongue mania”.
Upper castes enforce varieties of imperialism. Apart from their “caste imperialism”, “English language imperialism” has made their position secure.
Saharanpur (UP): It is a regular morning at the Gochar High School here. Since it is a Hindi medium school, few students know English with even the teachers preferring Hindi. However, there is someone who speaks in English, and that too with an American accent.
t know English fluently. Nobody taught me, says Rakesh, a 14-year-old class 11 student, who is a Dalit When he’s not at school, he’s in the fields helping his family out. And his accented English is because of some hard work over the last three years. He’s so hooked to the language now, that Hindi has become a foreign tongue for him. “I speak in Hindi but prefer to speak in English”, says Rakesh
Hindi heartland rejects SP’s English hatao call: He has been convincing everyone that English is god’s gift to him and an inborn talent. However, if prodded a little and he reveals, I watch a lot of Hollywood films and try and speak like they speak in the films.
Saharanpur in North India is known as the Hindi-heartland. But even here English is becoming very popular.
What is behind this new found craze? It’s a mixture of fascination and need for a good career, so because of these two reasons English is very popular, says Rakesh.
While Rakesh takes the English craze to one-extreme, there are those who take it to another idol-worship.
Since Dalits never had any gods or goddesses we decided to build this idol. She stands on a computer, has a pen in her hand and is called the English Goddess. If Dalits want to join the new economy they have to learn English, which is idea behind this idol, says a Dalit journalist.
From believing that it is a god’s gift, to worshipping it as god itself, Dalits in India are using English to demand for an equal society.
Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/for-this-boy-english-language-is-gods-gift/57128-3-1.html
Bengal restores English
Calcutta: Five years after it re-introduced English in Class 1, the WB Govt took a radical decision on May 26 to offer it as a medium of instruction in all government Bengali-medium schools in the state. The proposal was mooted by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and included in the agenda for the state cabinet meeting. The CM was firm that this was needed to improve communication skills of Bengali students.
Parents craze: In 1984, in a controversial move, the state govt had abolished English from the primary section in all Bengali-medium govt. and govt-aided schools. Following big protests from all quarters, English returned to class V in 1992, class III in 1998 and finally in 2003, it was decided that it would be taught from class I onwards. The CM now wants to introduce English-medium sections in Bengali-medium schools. Starting this academic year, these would be introduced in class I and class XI. Next year, English-medium sections would be set up in class II and class XII.
A note by the School Education Dept. had commented on the mushrooming of private schools of poor standard and uncertain quality in the state, which were cashing in on parents desire to send their wards to schools which offered English-medium. Teaching in English would also enable students to speak and write the language correctly. Guardians of students studying in private English-medium schools, who pay through their noses for the education of their kids, ask us why even though we have large government schools we could not arrange for English-medium-sections.
Source: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/English-medium-streams-now-in-Bengali-schools/315576/
DV Edit Dec. 16, 2003: “English language imperialism”.
