INdian states confront with using mother tongue of the children in monolingual schools. The challenges in using mother tongue in such schools have been discussed in this presentation.

1. Challenges in Multilingual Education
Some Critical Questions
Views from the field
Odisha and Chhattishgarh
Mahendra Kumar Mishra
State Head
ICICI Foundation , SCERT, Raipur
mahendra.mishra@icicifoundation.org

2. Consider
• In New York city schools 47 % children in primary
schools are non-white
• In London 30 % children in primary schools are
from Asia ( Tamil, Punjabi, Bengali, Hindi)
• In Gadchiroli – about 60 % children are tribal and
they don’t understand Marathi,
• In Bastar , 70 % children don’t understand
classroom language in class I – III
• In Odisha about 8 lakh tribal children don’t
understand Odiya in primary schools
• African countries revealed that their primary
education is failing in mostly tribal areas

3. Why ?
• Language of children is different from the language
of teaching/ text book
• Medium of instruction is the state official language
which does not help the linguistic minority children
• Curriculum and text books are uniform and unsuitable for
diverse group of children
• Teacher education is silent about the language
pedagogy( most of the children fail in language- let alone to
speak of language of science and math..
They take shelter of rote memory ..(abhikriyatmak
rasayan,bichhedan, bighatan,swasan,many more….)

4. • Language as the marker of capturing and
perpetuating knowledge has many thing to
contribute to learning of the children .
• In fact experience is not instrumental to
learning but experience itself is learning.
• Children learn with this world without a threat
of watchful eyes, but in an environment where
re-cognition is attached to life.
• In the school some authority is teaching them
Experiential learning

5. • IN what language the children learn?
• What is the context of a subject or topic of a text book
when we teach? Do these texts represent the everyday
life experience of the children?
• Do the children able to think in a language that they
don’t practice in their home?
• Do the teachers speak in the language that children
understand? in what language we teach the children?
• Do the teachers’ feel that the scientific languages of
math and science are intelligible to the students?
Some thoughts….

6. Two situation
• Situation- 1
Children don’t know my language , How can they
learn. I am not responsible for their failure.
• Situation – 2
I don’t know the children’s language and culture
How can I teach them?
which one is child centric?

7. 7
Existing school with blocking the learning

8. 8
Results…
• High dropouts
• Low achievement
• Failure in achieving national goal
• Loss of human resource
• Increase in social discrimination
• Blocking education and literacy
• Non participation of community
• Violation of children's linguistic and cultural right

9. 9
Constitutional Obligations
• Art.46 – State to promote the Educational Need of the
Weaker sections of the society (SC & ST)
• Art.350-A – Adequate facilities for instruction in mother
tongue at the Primary stage of education to children of
Linguistic Minority groups
• Art.21-A – Free & Compulsory Elementary education of
equitable Quality for all children upto 14 yrs of age

10. 10
Quotes from the National Curriculum
Framework - 2005
• Language of the children :
• The mother tongue is a critical conduit () for enabling children to
construct their own knowledge. Foreword, page 4)
• Cultural context of the children:
• curricula, syllabi, and textbooks should enable the teacher in
organizing classroom experiences in consonance with the child’s
nature and environment, and thus providing opportunities for all
children. (Executive Summary, page 8)

11. RtE - 2009
Art29 Mother tongue should be imparted to
children as far as practicable

12. SSA Goal
Education for equity of access to equity of opportunity and equity of out
come(dalits,girls,adivasi,minorities, CWSN,urban deprived children,migrants
children)
Education for quality - better pedagogical input in teaching learning process (
not counting the incentives)
MLE in Odisha
SSA Odisha adopted tribal education in 10 languages from class I to Class V
from 2006-07 till now 544 schools
32000 Tribal children
873 teachers from tribal communities
Now on 31st July Govt. of Odisha adopted more 1000 schools and posted
5000 tribal teachers in MLE schools

13. Dantewada- 78%, Bastar 66 %
Jashpur :63% Kanker: 56%
Sarguja 55% Korea 44 %
Besides some small groups are scattered
Literacy 52 %( MP)
31 tribes- literacy highest 33 % lowest 19%
Chhatishgarhi language spoken by about 2crores people belong to Indo Aryan
language group
Can we ignore these language resources of the children and claim child
centred pedagogy( CCP)?
Can we say that CCP is possible with out a communicative language of the
children?
Is it not true that language of TB is teacher centric? Or even pedo-centric?
Linguistic Situation in CG

14. Policy or Progrmme?
Efforts for MLE in CG
• In 2008 - Govt of CG notified for 25 % diverse languages
to be used as MT in primary classes
• Primers for class I and II in minority languages
• 25 % texts for class III- V students in children’s lang.
• CG Government has policy paper, but programme is not
running in schools
• Orissa /AP has no policy but programme is running through
SSA in 1000 schools

15. What is MLE ?
• First language of child is first language of learning –child’s
right to learn in her MT
• Maintenance of more than one language in classroom
with out killing the minority languages and culture.
• Language as a subject and language as medium
• Children learn as many language in natural situation
• Learning is contextual – situated cognition

16. What the state can do
• Political will ,Education policy , planning and funding
• Initial language development
• Curriculum and syllabus and TB in minority language at
least for five years
• Posting of tribal teachers in tribal area
• Training supervision and administration
• Documentation and evaluation
• community support

17. Some misconception on MLE
• MLE is to teach the children only in their mother
tongue but to teach Hindi and English equally.
• MLE is against mainstreaming
• MLE is only for the tribal
• MLE is not compatible to mainstream curriculum and text
books

18. What MLE can do
• It will help all children in learning easily and achieve better
• get access to local knowledge and connect with school knowledge
• community knowledge will be helpful to school
• Build solidarity between many language and social groups
• Address diversities of culture and language
• Make the school suitable for children’s learning from their cultural
context
• Remove rote memory and promote comprehension from MT to OTs
• Foster cultural democracy than A top down approached education

19. 19
The National Curriculum Framework 2005
( Plan for bridging and transition)
Class-1 Class-II Class-III Class-IV Class-V
Language
in MT
Language
in MT
Language in
MT
MT as
Subject
MT as Subject
Math in MT Math in MT Math in MT Math in L2 Math in L2
EVS in MT EVS in MT EVS in MT EVS in MT/L2 EVS in MT/L2
Play Play Play Play Play
Oral L2
Written L2
Reading and
writing in L2
Language in
L2
Language in L2
Oral L3 Oral and
written L3
Reading writing in
L3
MLE is not introduced in the ECCE

20. Lok Srujan
SRUJAN
Community
Teachers
Child
Friendly
Activities
Preparation of
Bilingual TLM
Community
Resource
Reading room
Attitudinal
Training
(Rupantar)
PRI Involvement
Jati MahasabhaStory Telling Festival
Traditional Game
Song and Dance
Art and Craft
Science Quiz
Essay and Debate

21. 21
SRUJAN
Based on NCF 2005 ideas
School
MLE
RUPANTARSrujan

22. 22Story telling Festival

23. 23
3D wall paintings: Santal art

24. 24
Traditional wall paintings : Geometry?

27. Thank you
Namaste
Johar
Limtam