Rs. 17,48,52,00,00,00,000

 

‘Hindi’ has been substituted with ‘Third language’ and therefore there cannot be any objection for a three language formula, all over India.  This is the argument of the day.  But the above picture itself would show that it is not that any Indian language could be the third language, but what is chosen by the respective state/UT Governments.

The counter that has been posed from those opposed to it is whether children in North India really learn three languages, or even two, with English as the mandatory second.

It has also been pointed out that even in the KVs of Tamil Nadu, the posts of teachers of Tamil have not been filled up.  

There is another argument that learning more languages is beneficial to a child’s cognitive abilities.

To the best of my knowledge, educationists world over prescribe primary education in one’s mother tongue as the best.

Now, for higher education, without doubt English is essential, not because it was the language of our former rulers, but because, it contains a sea of information on whether science or humanities.  To those who want to bring the information to their native languages, it will take much more time and if with the advent of AI, etc, it is going to be much easier, then the barrier for that also is broken and one requires learning only one’s mother tongue for higher learning also. Thus, for this reason also, the need for a third language fails.

Next comes the need to know spoken language of different places when working in those places.

Those who have gone into the Northern parts of India would have experienced the animosity towards those who do not speak Hindi. 

I have felt this, even when I was representing them and fighting for their cause.  Then what happens if your are at their mercy, working for them or being paid by them?

Yes, in all such situations, people have been learning that language for their livelihood, just like North Indian migrants now learn the local languages wherever they are working.

In this regard, we see people of different places easily learning the language of the place where they work, even when they do not have formal education in that language.  For that matter, spoken language has hardly anything to do with the written literature of various languages.

“I ask you, Sir are we going to have this Constitution only for ourselves and our lives ? What about our children and the generations to come ? Are they not to follow this ? I am speaking from my own personal experience. I learnt Hindi, I taught Hindi to some hundreds of women at least, in the South. My experience is this : Those who have passed the highest examinations in Hindi can read and write, but it is impossible for them to speak, because for speaking there must be some kind of environment, some kind of atmosphere. In the South, where do we find this atmosphere? Nowhere in the South have we opportunities of speaking what we have learnt. You will only realise this difficulty when you come to the South and you have to speak one of the provincial languages there. Therefore, be patient and cultivate the spirit of accommodation and tolerance. This is the thing that we ask of you to show to us”. That was Shrimati G Durgabai (Madras: General) speaking in the Constituent Assembly debates on 14^th September 1949.

Still, if we insist that a third language should be there for unity sake, then I would like to work out the cost of imparting that ‘third language’.

Total number of regional languages as per 8th Schedule : 22

Total number of regional language teachers who will have to be employed per school if third language is to be any regional language (At the rate of 3 per school which is a very minimum with atleast one for primary, one for pre-secondary and one for secondary in each school)  : 66

Total number of Schools in India in 2024 as per the UDISE Report of Government of India, 2023-34 (https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/statistics-new/udise_report_existing_23_24.pdf )  : 1,47,18,911

Total number of additional teachers that will be required to teach all regional languages as third language (@66 per school): Rs.97.14 Crores

Salary for the above additional teachers @Rs. 15,000 per month : Rs. 14,57,100 Crores

Salary for the above additional teachers per year: Rs. 1,74,85,200 Crores

Now Compare the above with the two figures below:

Total number of teachers in 2024 as per UDISE Report of Government of India, 2023-34 (https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/statistics-new/udise_report_existing_23_24.pdf )  : 98,07,600

The total expenditure in India's Union Budget for 2025-26 (Estimate) : Rs.50.65 lakh crore

Thus, it becomes apparent that the euphemism of ‘third language’ is not a real feasibility and what could actually happen is only imparting ‘Hindi’ as a third language in non-Hindi speaking areas – which will be only an imposition, when done without the consent of the respective State Governments and the people.  

It should be left to the option of the respective states to take a call. And release of funds for education should not certainly be linked to that, when the matter is in the Concurrent list.