Nick The Elitists

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, last year in July, announced that 14 engineering colleges in India have started technical courses in five regional languages and hoped they will particularly help the marginalised sections of the society. Recently the Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah reiterated the need to teach professional courses like medicine, engineering and law in local languages and called it a moment of renaissance and reconstruction’ for the education sector. Is this a good idea?

- S. S. Mantha

EONS BACK, Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher said, "The only constant in life is change." That said, change in society can be brought about in two ways. One, to plan to the last detail and then implement. The second is to drive 'change' by 'change. While the first takes long to realise and may even falter and fail, the second reaps dividends in the shortest time, if the intentions are noble.

The government's intent to drive 'change' by 'change' is obvious. That it termed it renaissance and reconstruction' shows seriousness of intent. One suspects the intent is also to democratise and remove education from the elitist clutches. Will this change be reformative? Ancient studies were essentially conducted in Sanskrit. Vedas, Vedangas, Samhitas. Puranas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads are all rooted in Sanskrit literature.

As English now, Sanskrit then, was seen as the language of the elite. There must have been several other languages then as well, as there are now.

Education in Sanskrit or others must have been debated even then. That realisation must have promoted education in other languages too. We would not have had an exalted development of religion and culture, if it were not so.