05-05-2007, 04:14 PM
Bodhi that was a great and very informative post - and I will quote only a part of it below to comment on it.
<!--QuoteBegin-Bodhi+May 5 2007, 10:02 AM-->QUOTE(Bodhi @ May 5 2007, 10:02 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->If you have not come across, does not mean Mathematics or other sciences are not being taught in Hindi or other Indic languages today. Reality is just to the opposite, ALL the Hindi medium schools in North India, certainly those run by the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh secondary boards teach the mathematics and other subjects in Hindi medium. I know this, since I am a product of that education board, not very long back.
Above equation (samIkaraNa to us) that you mentioned was taught to us and being taught to millions (yes, conciousely writing, millions) of students every year, even today by thousands of school teachers, like this: (à¤+à¤)^2 = à¤à¤^2 + 2à¤à¤ + à¤^2. Do these students learn any less of bIjagaNita than those who learnt the "algebra"? Of course instead of learning Pythagoras theorem, we were taught SridharAcharya Prameya. Did we learn any less of jyAmiti, than the 'Geometry' that our "English-only-please" brothers/sisters of english-medium schools learnt?
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
In fact this is news to me. My views are heavily skewed by my area of learning - allopathic medicine which currently has no route for anyone to follow other than an English only route.
Of course - I have a lot of friends who studied in regional language schools. Some, such as a "Venky" I have mentioned in another thread coped remarkably with English medium education in college. Others fell by the wayside - not for want of intelligence - but for lack of adequate English.
The people who had studied in regional language schools were facing an uphill task competing against people who had an English language education in school. Typically, those students whose parents knew English tended to do better and cope better than those whose parents knew no English. Significantly - every one of these people has opted to put his or her children in English medium schools.
The point I am trying to make is not that education cannot be given in regional languages - but that education is skewed in favor of English -and the higher you want to go the more your knowledge of English matters.
Secondly, the point about "If rape is inevitable lie back and enjoy it" comment is IMO seriously misplaced because I have been trying to point out that rape has already occurred. It is not as though rape can now be resisted or enjoyed. The rape is over and what we are left with is lost virginity. I believe it is naive to think that the clock can easily be turned back to some golden period when rape had not occurred. I repeat that people who talk about this are typically people who have already acquired the benefits of education in English. Those people probably had parents who spoke English, and their children too will have studied in English medium schools.
I do not mean to get personal, but please tell me that you are one exception in that neither of your parents spoke English and that your children are now in regional language schools as an example that proves that regional language education is equal to English medium education. I salute you for your ability to communicate and my respect for you would only grow if the above holds true for you, but I still think that you would be an exception rather than the rule. Things work in boring cliches, and not as rare exceptions.
Intentions may be noble but we are dealing with contaminated ground over which a lot of water has flowed, washing away a lot of what existed. Sentiment may call for attachment to a language - but hunger and economic hardship, and the promise of a good life are powerful motivators that put linguistic attachments on the backburner. Any feeling for any regional language will have to take these hard facts into account.
<!--QuoteBegin-Bodhi+May 5 2007, 10:02 AM-->QUOTE(Bodhi @ May 5 2007, 10:02 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->If you have not come across, does not mean Mathematics or other sciences are not being taught in Hindi or other Indic languages today. Reality is just to the opposite, ALL the Hindi medium schools in North India, certainly those run by the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh secondary boards teach the mathematics and other subjects in Hindi medium. I know this, since I am a product of that education board, not very long back.
Above equation (samIkaraNa to us) that you mentioned was taught to us and being taught to millions (yes, conciousely writing, millions) of students every year, even today by thousands of school teachers, like this: (à¤+à¤)^2 = à¤à¤^2 + 2à¤à¤ + à¤^2. Do these students learn any less of bIjagaNita than those who learnt the "algebra"? Of course instead of learning Pythagoras theorem, we were taught SridharAcharya Prameya. Did we learn any less of jyAmiti, than the 'Geometry' that our "English-only-please" brothers/sisters of english-medium schools learnt?
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
In fact this is news to me. My views are heavily skewed by my area of learning - allopathic medicine which currently has no route for anyone to follow other than an English only route.
Of course - I have a lot of friends who studied in regional language schools. Some, such as a "Venky" I have mentioned in another thread coped remarkably with English medium education in college. Others fell by the wayside - not for want of intelligence - but for lack of adequate English.
The people who had studied in regional language schools were facing an uphill task competing against people who had an English language education in school. Typically, those students whose parents knew English tended to do better and cope better than those whose parents knew no English. Significantly - every one of these people has opted to put his or her children in English medium schools.
The point I am trying to make is not that education cannot be given in regional languages - but that education is skewed in favor of English -and the higher you want to go the more your knowledge of English matters.
Secondly, the point about "If rape is inevitable lie back and enjoy it" comment is IMO seriously misplaced because I have been trying to point out that rape has already occurred. It is not as though rape can now be resisted or enjoyed. The rape is over and what we are left with is lost virginity. I believe it is naive to think that the clock can easily be turned back to some golden period when rape had not occurred. I repeat that people who talk about this are typically people who have already acquired the benefits of education in English. Those people probably had parents who spoke English, and their children too will have studied in English medium schools.
I do not mean to get personal, but please tell me that you are one exception in that neither of your parents spoke English and that your children are now in regional language schools as an example that proves that regional language education is equal to English medium education. I salute you for your ability to communicate and my respect for you would only grow if the above holds true for you, but I still think that you would be an exception rather than the rule. Things work in boring cliches, and not as rare exceptions.
Intentions may be noble but we are dealing with contaminated ground over which a lot of water has flowed, washing away a lot of what existed. Sentiment may call for attachment to a language - but hunger and economic hardship, and the promise of a good life are powerful motivators that put linguistic attachments on the backburner. Any feeling for any regional language will have to take these hard facts into account.