What’s Telangana’s education policy?

Hyderabad: Is the ‘unannounced’ Telangana State Education Policy falling back on a 170-year-old Woods dispatch or embarrassing even worse? Second, what is the constitutionality of the Centre or the State governments starting English medium schools from the early ages (to class XII) without officially notifying the people of its education policy? What is more bizarre is there was neither any scientific evidence nor reason given for going to starting English medium schools incurring the taxpayer’s money. Besides, the State government reportedly did not consult with experts or academicians before announcing a ‘major decision like changing the very nature of teaching and learning from the primary education level’. What were the data or case studies, considering how the changes impact not only present but also lakhs of children and students, who are the future generations of Telangana and the country?

Are the State’s education decisions or policies (officially unannounced) being bulldozed by the bureaucratic decisions and imposed on the people in the ‘Chinese Style’ or ‘British Raj Style’, devoid of based on any academic expert policy recommendations?

Speaking to The Hans India, Rajender Reddy (name changed) a faculty member of Telugu University pointed out, “Though worse, still, the 170-year Woods Dispatch under the British was more rational than the present step-motherly attitude towards the Telugu in the name of English.”

The 1854 Woods Dispatch on education suggested that vernacular languages should be adopted at the primary school level. Followed by an Anglo-vernacular medium and then an English medium at the college level. However, the successive governments and their policies from the days of the United Andhra Pradesh in the post-1990s contributed to discrediting pursuing education in Telugu medium.

This resulted in the mushrooming of the English media educational institutions in the private sector running into thousands of crore businesses. The adverse effect of these developments allowed by successive State governments to discredit the Telugu medium evolved into a rabid Anglophisim becoming the mainstream culture of the education landscape in both the Telugu states.

Call it an obsession or romance with a rabid tilt towards the English medium at the cost of Telugu, and learning in Telugu medium is such that “if allowed, the governments are ready to introduce teaching English for babies when they are in the wombs of their mothers,” criticises, N Sastry (name changed) another Sanskrit Pundit from the Government College.

There were a lot of positive achievements and dividends brought by the introduction of the English medium in the last 30 years in the Telugu States. However, the lopsided development that neither the political leadership nor the policy-making bureaucrats don’t talk about is that the number of students studying in English media has grown to lakhs in the past 20 to 30 years. Earlier, there were Telugu medium unemployed in their thousands.