CBSE schools in Nagaland appeal to Education Minister for ‘lingusitic exemption’ under 3-language policy framework
Principals from Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) affiliated schools in Nagaland have written to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan conveying their difficulty in implementing
Principals from Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) affiliated schools in Nagaland have written to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan conveying their difficulty in implementing the compulsory three-language policy framework, including introduction of Sanskrit, in Naga schools. The letter dated May 23 states that principals from 19 CBSE schools in Nagaland have on-ground concerns about implementation of R3 language framework, where a compulsory third language is to be introduced from Class 6 onwards with at least two of them being native Indian languages, considering the unique socio-linguistic context of Nagaland. ‘English is lingua franca’ The letter states that Nagaland is home to over 17 major recognised tribes and dozens of sub-tribes each with their own distinct language and oral tradition. “Unlike most Indian States where a dominant regional language unifies communities, Nagaland has no single native tongue that all Nagas share. English has served as practical lingua franca across tribal communities in formal settings,” the letter states. “In many of our urban and semi-urban schools, a single classroom holds children from more than 30 different linguistic backgrounds — Ao, Angami, Sumi, Lotha, Konyak, Chang, Phom, Zeliang, Chakhesang, Pochuri, Rengma, Khiamniungan, Tikhir, Yimkhiung and others alongside Bengali, Bihari, Hindi, Punjabi, Assamese, Kachari, Nepali and so on.” “Textbooks and structured curricula for most of these languages remain largely undeveloped at the school level,” the letter further adds.
Principals in CBSE-affiliated schools of Nagaland have urged the Education Ministry to grant Nagaland a special linguistic exemption or a flexible framework as it is a “linguistically complex territory”. They have also urged for developing a structured syllabi for Ao, Angami, Sumi, Lotha, Konyak and other major Naga languages at the secondary level. They have also requested the State government of Nagaland in coordination with the Education Ministry to establish a scheme for appointment or deputation of trained language teachers to CBSE-affiliated schools. Principals of CBSE schools in Nagaland are finding it difficult to identify a common native language, which can be taught under the three-language framework. “The Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE) once attempted to introduce a compulsory second language policy, but the practical realities of Nagaland’s diversity made implementation deeply challenging,” one of the principals of CBSE-affiliated school in Nagaland told The Hindu. “Northeast part [of India] is quite different from the mainland. In Nagaland, we speak a mix of Assamese, Bengali and Hindi which is a colloquial dialect called Nagamese. There is no written script or grammar, it is just a language of communication,” the principal said. “Students in Nagaland study primarily in English, and to a large extent they also study Hindi. However, they find it very hard to adapt to Hindi and so they also prefer to study foreign languages like French and German as these are easier to learn because of similarities in Roman script to English,” the principal quoted above explained.
The BriefWire