Primary education in mother tongue can boost children’s self-esteem, creativity: Vice President

Hyderabad: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday called for making mother tongue the primary medium of instruction, at least until Grade 5.

He suggested that educating a child in a language that is not spoken at home can be a big impediment to learning especially at the primary stage.

Referring to multiple studies Mr Naidu said that teaching through the mother tongue in the initial stages of education can boost a child’s self-esteem and enhance his or her creativity.

Calling the New Education Policy a visionary and progressive document, he urged for implementing the Policy in letter and spirit.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the webinar organised by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Culture, the Vice President focused on five key sectors to promote the use of mother tongue.

Apart from emphasizing the use of mother tongue in primary education, the other highlighted areas are the use of local languages in administration, court proceedings and to deliver judgments in them.

He also wanted a gradual increase in the use of indigenous languages in higher and technical education. The final emphasis was on everyone to proudly and preferably use their mother tongue in their homes.

Mr Venkaiah Naidu said that with hundreds of languages coexisting, linguistic diversity is one of the cornerstones of our ancient civilization.

Observing how our mother tongues can evoke an emotional response in the people, Mr Naidu called them an ‘important link to our socio-cultural identity’, ‘a repository of our collective knowledge and wisdom’ and thus needs to be protected, preserved and promoted.

Highlighting the importance of mother tongue in governance, Mr Naidu advised that we increase their use, especially at state and local levels.

Advocating an inclusive model of governance, he said, “Only by communicating with the common person in a language he or she understands can we include him or her in the process of governance and development. Language of administration should be the language of the people.”

Suggesting that language-inclusion should come at the higher levels too, Mr Naidu gave the instance of Rajya Sabha, where a provision has been made for its members to express themselves in any of the 22 scheduled languages. (UNI)