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Indian Express
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
CBSE's turn to the mother tongue requires more than intent — it demands structural shifts and classroom autonomy
The decision taken by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to switch the focus of early primary years to the mother tongue is, to say the least, momentous. With a circular, the board plans to upend the history of education in its prestigious schools. If the circular succeeds, the outcome will be nothing less than a revolution. Future historians will struggle to explain this accomplishment. Some will surely ask: 'If it was so simple, why couldn't the board do it many years ago?' The CBSE is a relatively small board compared to the state boards, but it enjoys higher status and influence. Barring exceptions, CBSE schools use English as a medium from the earliest grades. Several state boards have conceded the centrality of English relatively recently, apparently to align themselves with the CBSE. Now that the latter has announced its resolve to displace English in the early years of schooling, will these state boards follow? If that happens, it will doubtless be a beautiful dawn of systemic sanity. No philosopher or policymaker has ever endorsed the centrality of English over the child's mother tongue. Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, M K Gandhi — they all advocated the primacy of the mother tongue. J P Naik — the designer of educational policies in the early years of Independence — saw the dominant position of English in leading schools as a terrible contradiction. As the member-secretary of the Kothari Commission (1964-66), he pleaded for a sincere implementation of the three-language formula. Under this hallowed mantra, the child's mother tongue ought to be treated as the first and most important language at school. In his book published soon after his death in 1981, Naik lamented the fact that the three-language formula had been implemented piecemeal or sidelined entirely. He once told me a story that rings like an allegory today. Following the Kothari Commission report's approval, Naik said the Maharashtra government issued a circular. It referred to the commission's recommendation of 'child-centred education'. The Maharashtra circular directed all schools to ensure that child-centred education was practised with immediate effect. In fact, the circular threatened official action against defaulting school heads. The point of this story was that circulars don't necessarily work, especially when they intend to soften an entrenched practice. Wider effort, involving social collaboration, is required. It is now a popular, socially accepted fact that English is the language of upward mobility. The parallel view that English is a colonial legacy and should therefore be displaced may have political utility, but it has little traction, particularly among the traditionally deprived social groups. They recognise that the children of the dominant classes and their leaders benefit from their ease with English. This view goes along with the notion that command of English requires early induction. By sticking to the use of English as a medium of teaching in every subject, elite schools — as most CBSE schools are — have consolidated these popular perceptions of English. Indeed, this perception is a key factor driving the growth of private schools, especially in the northern belt where the state system is weak and poorly managed. The CBSE's move blinks at this wider reality. Instead of explaining what is problematic about early induction into English, the CBSE wants to sound innocent in its sudden advocacy of the mother tongue or the regional language. Laudable though this new mission is, it calls for sustained preparation and considerable investment. Apart from private schools, Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) will require more than nudging if they are to pay greater attention to children's home language. As a privileged segment of the CBSE family, KVs have been silently copying the practices of English-medium private ('public') schools. Many years have passed since the day I noticed that Grade I children in a KV in Delhi could not name all the days of the week in Hindi. It was nobody's wish to make children monolingual English speakers so early in life; KVs were merely following a social trend. Being evasive about the omnipresence of English-medium education is probably a policy compulsion, but it amounts to a preference for snoozing in a make-believe world. If the child's own language is to find some appreciative space at school, countless euphemisms will have to be sacrificed. Some of these serve as a political shorthand; others are related to frozen pedagogies. Experienced teachers know that language is not merely literacy, however foundational it may be. Sounds, rhymes and words contain intimate, imagined meanings for small children. Sensible teaching lets these meanings develop new forms; misconceived schooling throttles them, imposing dictionary meanings through tests and competition. In our system, the child's language is the first casualty. Prematurely acquired capacities to recite and spell run parallel to rote numeracy. These practices run counter to the basic principles of child-centred teaching. If the CBSE wants to improve language learning at early stages, it will have to look beyond publicised priorities. As an examination board, its focus is naturally on tests and outcomes. Currently, this focus has intensified. New technologies have exacerbated this tendency. Language learning during childhood is an aspect of intellectual growth that demands a generous teacher and diversity of resources. Music, drama and other means of aesthetic expression also enhance children's linguistic strength. A multilingual classroom is best suited to achieving these aims. The education system is accustomed to treating language like a subject. It is taught with the purpose of ensuring success in tests. In recent years, this systemic tendency has worsened. Distrust of the teacher has led to a general, undeclared policy of denial of autonomy. In KVs, teachers must abide by a nationwide convergence of weekly completion schedules. This practice compels every teacher to complete each segment of the syllabus or textbook at the same pace as others. Practices in private schools are not very different from this norm. There is little room in such a system to permit teachers to pursue curricular goals at their own pace. The transformation of such a system cannot be achieved with a circular and a brief re-orientation. The writer is former NCERT director and the author of The Child's Language and the Teacher and Padhna, zara sochna
New Indian Express
11 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Bharat Mata row: Kerala Cabinet urges governor to use only national flag, symbol for Raj Bhavan events
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as Governor Rajendra Arlekar defended the display of the image of Bharat Mata carrying a saffron flag in events attended by him, the state cabinet has urged him to ensure that nothing other than the national flag and national symbol are displayed during official events conducted at the Raj Bhavan. Reminding the governor that displaying any other flag or symbol amounted to insulting the national flag and symbol, the cabinet urged him to issue the necessary directions to Raj Bhavan officials. In a letter to the governor, the state cabinet touched upon the circumstances leading to the adoption of the national flag and national symbol and the Constituent Assembly debates and a resolution on what the national flag should embody. The cabinet referred to the speeches made by Jawaharlal Nehru and Sarojini Naidu during the Constituent Assembly debates on the national flag. While Nehru had said that there were no communal or social considerations behind adoption of the tricolour as the national flag, Naidu had maintained that only the national flag should represent the country in public places or official programmes. Notably, the governor's letter to the chief minister on the issue had also mentioned the Constituent Assembly debates. 'When the Constituent Assembly adopted Vande Mataram as the National Song on January 24, 1950, the idea of Mother India received a constitutional mandate. The concept of Bharat Mata or Bharathamba evolved much before Independence and lives in the hearts of every Indian,' the governor had told the CM. Meanwhile, the controversy over the display of the image refused to die down. In the wake of the Raj Bhavan seeking a report on the incident, the VC has demanded an explanation from the registrar. On Thursday, the registrar urged the police to lodge a case against the organisers for continuing with the event even after permission for it was denied.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘90s kid summer' trend ditches tech in favor of retro fun — here's why it won't work for all parents
Millennial parents are throwing it back. After the recent resurgence of iconic nineties trends jelly shoes, chunky highlights and flip phones, the ''90s kid summer' parenting trend reeks of turn-of-the-century nostalgia. Yet, proponents behind it say they're not just harking back to their childhoods — they're sick of their screen-addicted kids. Just before summer vacations across the country began, millennial parents took to TikTok en masse to reminisce on their own school-free months. In the comments of TikTok posts like this video by @_natenorman, nostalgic nineties kids recalled the days spent outside from dawn to dusk, biking alone to community pools, the unsupervised neighborhood playtime, and above all, the lack of communication from parents who simply wanted a few hours of peace and quiet. 'My summer memories all involve pools, sports, and exploring the woods. Creeks, birdwatching, riding bikes with the neighborhood kids and my siblings,' read one reply. 'The attic fan on at night is all I remember of indoors.' Many parents online claim that they're giving their kids a '90s summer to promote positive development like independence and creativity. And according to experts, they're not wrong to do so. The American Psychological Association says that unstructured play can help children progress in important body and muscle growth, socializing, decision-making skills, conflict management, and empathy, among other areas. However, a '90s summer is simply not feasible for some, and growing pressure from online parenting communities is leading to undue stress and guilt. Kristin Gallant, a parenting expert who posts child-rearing and mom life content on Instagram as @biglittlefeelings, was among the anxious millennials. 'If it works for your family, great,' says Gallant in the video. 'Working parents, we're stressed out when we see this. We need to send our kids to camp or have some child care' so the unplanned routine doesn't work quite the same, she explained. She also mentioned how neurodiverse kids and sensitive children who thrive on structure likely also wouldn't benefit from this trend. 'If you can't give your kids a '90s summer, don't let it make you feel like s–t,' she concluded. Claire Vallotton, professor of human development and family studies at Michigan State University, agrees that making a sudden shift towards the '90s summer lifestyle is not beneficial to kids, and explains that the trend is likely a response to the tendency that many modern parents have towards both maximizing their child's development by overscheduling them with classes, camps and other programs, as well as allowing young kids to have way too much screen time. In an interview with USA Today, Vallotton said that most kids of today 'are overscheduled and using technology too much,' and a majority of them are not spending time outdoors alone like their millennial parents. The urge to overcorrect with the '90s summer trend makes 'a lot of sense, but trying to solve it all in one summer isn't going to work for either the children or parents,' she explained. 'You can't just have this over-scheduled, technology-saturated life for nine months of the year and then switch into this absolute freedom,' Vallotton elaborated. 'We haven't prepared our children for that… It's going to make the children potentially more anxious.' Some parents online have commiserated with Gallant for numerous reasons. Some complain of 'velco children' — kids who stick to their parents' sides non-stop — while others bemoan the dangers and rising childcare costs plaguing the modern world. 'Give me a 90s economy and 90s real estate prices and I'll see what I can do,' replied a mom, agreeing with Gallant. 'I wish ['90s summer] was an option now for our kids. Karens everywhere crying about the noise of a basketball, no woods to go venture in or build treehouses, and people are always driving distracted, so riding bikes down the road can't happen,' said one commenter under @_natenorman's TikTok, explicating the impossibility of recreating those summers of the past. Meanwhile, other parents offered their own interpretations of the sudden online push for the resurgence of a '90s summer. 'What I take from the 90s summer is letting go of the pressure to be over-scheduled, do every single expensive camp, and be IG perfect,' replied one user under Gallant's video. 'I think the takeaway is that it's okay to let your kid have a solid chunk of independent play where you as the parent are not playing camp Director,' explained another. 'It's not unsupervised but unstructured. Not all day but part of it. For me, after lunch, I might push the kids outside and go read on the porch while they figure it out. They have things to do provided, but it's dealer's choice.' Instead of making an instantaneous transition like millennial parents across the Internet seem to imply, Vallotton advised that parents slowly reduce technology access for kids and encourage children to play together outdoors while supervising from afar.
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Emergency, seen in the cartoons of Sudhir Dar
Many see the Emergency as the harshest test the Press has faced since Independence. In the early hours of June 26, 1975, when the Emergency was declared, citing 'internal disturbances', the Press was the first casualty. Challenged and threatened, the Press persevered through various means and techniques. The common folks who read between the lines in the cartoons had the last laugh. (Sudhir Dhar) The Hindustan Times attempted reporting the events as they were, trusting their readers to read between the lines. When it became hard to get past the chief censor appointed for the purpose, Sudhir Dar's cartoons became the vehicle of the occasional satire couched in various disguises. Electricity to most media houses had been cut off to paralyse them but the June 28 edition reported to its readers thus: 'The city edition on Friday and the dak editions of Friday and Saturday could not be brought out as no power was available from 12:45pm on Thursday till 7:15pm on Friday'. It was hard to miss the irony implied in simply placing this announcement between two articles headlined 'Mrs Gandhi believes in Press freedom' and 'Press censorship for first time,' respectively. The same edition of the paper also carried a blank white space where perhaps the editorial ought to have been, marking the impact of censorship. Although it caught attention, this technique of blank spaces was not a sustainable one given that the Emergency was indefinite. Sudhir Dar's 'This Is It!' cartoons carried the satirical baton forward. A man in a cartoon published on March 11, 1976, complains about the increase in rail fare: 'My wife went home to Kerala three months ago… Now I can't afford to bring her back'. And then, lest the cartoonist be hauled up for attacking the authorities such, he transforms the cartoon into a misogynist joke by having the male listener think to himself, 'And he's complaining!!'. When he really struck, Dar's political comments were marked by a scathing sense of humour. In a cartoon published on July 15, 1976, Dar makes a direct comment on the state of democracy. The domestic help of a couple in their house carries a tray in his hand but the tea-cup and saucer are precariously balanced on his head. While the man looks aghast the woman consoles him: 'His mind is like the De ______ these days… frequently cloudy!'. The readers' prior knowledge from reading the newspapers in those days helps them fill in the blank with the oft-used word: Democracy. In another cartoon on September 16, 1975, Dar uses a carefully chosen newspaper headline to set the context: 'Man slashes Dutch masterpiece'. Dar unexpectedly transforms this into a direct comment on censorship of the time as a reporter in the cartoon entering what looks like the office of a media house thinks to himself: 'Somebody slashes Indian masterpieces every day!'. The comment is evidently upon the censor who rejects publication of the work of hard-working reporters. So, what did these cartoons achieve? Before announcing the general elections in 1977, the Prime Minister consulted her Cabinet and the newspapers to know if national sentiments were conducive for the same. But both had been effectively censored. Contrary to their predictions, the ruling party lost by a significant margin. The common folks who read between the lines in the cartoons had the last laugh. Neha Khurana teaches Liberal Arts at Vidyashilp University (Bengaluru). The views expressed are personal.
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
'I feel betrayed by DWP cuts to PIP - thinking about them gets my heart racing'
Law student Natasha Muzembe, 29, who lives in west London, said she doesn't know how she will 'survive' if her £739 monthly Personal Independence Payments are cut A law student with bipolar has said she feels 'betrayed' by Labour after it announced cuts to disability benefits. Natasha Muzembe, 29, who lives in west London, said she doesn't know how she will 'survive' if her £739 monthly Personal Independence Payment s are cut. 'It'll put me in poverty. I'm scared. Thinking about it gets my heart racing. It's going to be a really tough time if they do that,' she said. Natasha said she uses her PIP to pay for taxi services, when she can't take the bus due to psychosis making her feel as though everyone is looking at her, as well as for cleaning services and medication delivery. She said she was 'very, very, very surprised' when Labour announced its welfare reforms and said it was 'disgusting' for ministers to 'target the most vulnerable people in society'. 'I felt betrayal and anger because this is a party that promised to be 'for people,'' she added. If you're 'for people', how can you go against them in the most harmful and attacking way? 'People voted for them because they were frustrated with the way the country was going. People were in poverty. Children weren't getting meals. You get nurses going to food banks, and people voted for them in the hopes that they were going to transform the country." Natasha said it was "reassuring" there was such a big rebellion within Labour against the welfare cuts. In a message to Keir Starmer, she added: 'Don't go back on the people that voted for you in the first place, who need help, that voted for you on the grounds that you were going to support and make them better. 'A healthy mind nurtures a healthy nation. Let's get people feeling better before they're forced to get into work and jobs they cannot sustain.'
