8. CAREER GUIDANCE AND VOCATIONAL COURSES - FROM A DALIT PERSPECTIVE

THE CAREER GUIDANCE AND THE VOCATIONAL COURSES

(THE CONCEPT PAPER)

• Sampath Kumar Thulasi

INTRODUCTION:

The programs of career guidance with a special stress on vocational courses are a serious requirement particularly in the present phase of transition of India forced by the various periodic storms surfacing from the tsunami of globalization.

Vocational course is a course that gives one some hands on skills with a basic theoretical understanding of the skill which provide an opportunity to fit into some specific eligibilities of some specific work in industrial or agricultural production or service sector.

THE BASIC QUESTIONS LIFE &LEARNING:

This is an attempt to understand this in some more detail in relationship with few other fundamental aspects of life of human beings in general and of those in India – the caste ridden, rather than the just class ridden, society.

Struggle to save one’s own life is natural. All creatures exhibit this. However life varies from creature to creature. And, that of human beings has a remarkable variation. The variation is that it has a meaning. The life of a human being has a meaning for the self and also for others in the community. If at all, we have to concede that the lives of all creatures too have a meaning of their own to each of them, then also this meaning is fixed for them by nature, never showing any visible change even across generations. But that of humans is different. The meaning has been a vigorously dynamic one.

Then the meaning of life of human beings, since this characteristic feature of meaning got attached to life, as a pathological attachment, has also been changing from this geography to that geography, from this community to that, from this context to that and from time to time.

How did such a remarkable characteristic feature emerge? Here it is sufficient to note its one word answer – ‘Labour’. The very typical shape of human body, the physical evolution, the mental evolution, the attribute of ‘thinking’, etc. – all are the contribution of Labour – THE HUMAN LABOUR.

The role of human labour continues. It has not only just gave the birth, among many, to the attribute of thinking but also has introduced and influenced the ways of thinking.

It continued. Sound was replaced by word. The word acquired a literal representation. Thus evolved language and languages. Language revolutionized the studies ( denoted by the popularly known word ‘education’ but by now the latter lost this meaning ) – the formal and informal learning and teaching.

Studies have become a powerful instrument for the growth of both an individual and the community as well. Study sharpened the edge of labour. However, labour alone remains to be the source that has been supplying the ever-new material and matter (subject) of studies.

Thus continued and continues this glorious entity – of labour and study – wherein the labour has been in the forefront and has been the vanguard of the development of that very entity.

The sharpness of the edge of labour effected by the intellect, started to influence the net product value of labour. Sharper the labour larger is the produce. That, the sharpness, influenced the wages – the salaries and their subsequent variation.

Whoever it may be, if one has to survive one has to work. The only difference, that emerged with the emergence of studies is, the labour powered with studies and the labour not powered with studies – or to attempt to put it to sound more accurately – the labour powered with intense studies and the labour powered with moderate studies. Fine! Fine is all this!! But the power of studies slithered towards only a few. This has been the greatest mistake of evolution (to be corrected for definite). It may be noted that even before the faculty of studies evolved as a component of human activity and of human society, the very human society was already divided into haves and have-nots. Studies became the property of only haves. In all countries and nations across the globe this happened. However, in India, typically, some thing more of this dichotomy of haves and have-nots happened. It is the varna dichotomy – the savarna and avarna dichotomy enveloping a myriad of castes and sub-castes differentiated horizontally and vertically.

It is in this – such a deep and wide – back drop we have to think about and look into our need – the need to survive in the context – even if that special arrangement needed is straightly visible and simply perceivable.

THE CONTEXTUAL SURVIVAL AND ESSENTIAL SURVIVAL:

This straight visibility and the simple perceptibility are what with which we are to be cautious. If we fall a prey to this we may at best have gained the arrangement for a survival in the context (we call this a contextual survival) at the cost of forgetting to yearn for essential survival. A contextual survival is never the essential survival. We should not be contented with mere contextual survival. Firstly, it is not the essential survival – the basic match for a human being. Secondly, contextual survival is the most vulnerable and unprotected existence.

Constrained by cruel and conspiratorial social compulsions against enjoying the facility of essential survival we are forced to take up carrying out efforts for contextual survival and not because that the mere contextual survival is the sole survival. This we should never forget. Also, never let our fellow caste people to forget this.

The astronomical figures of school less children – either as dropouts or as never admitted – are quite disturbing. More than 90% of them, indisputably, constitute the dalits. In the state of A.P. alone the number of children of the ages 4 to 15 who are not going to school is 40 lakhs. What a mass deprivation! Still the government people and their stooge academic choir are shameless to speak about their achievements. It means, so many of this age group are lurking in child labour or ‘child-sitting’ or unsettled and all with an un-assured future. As we move up the scale of age group the number of unsettled increases. Again, at any level, it is the dalits who constitute more than 90 % of them.

All these lakhs crores of children had the dreams or their parents dreamt for them of essential survival but now are forced to think immediately of the contextual survival.

THE REGULAR TRACK OF EDUCATION:

The regular track of education and higher education is oriented towards the facility of those who want to and, mind you, who also can go to the highest course in one single sweep. Not that they are capable of such, nor is that they perform well in studies. It is because their studies are highly funded, pampered and supported continuously with such a guard that every time they fall there is some one to keep them up again and there is some resource that they can purchase for any cost and use that resource to put them up again. But for our dalit children, there is no such support even, of a lower and base minimum level and what to speak of supports to put them up when they fall.



Fig 1 : A diagram to portray the sequence of upward steps in the regular track of education and the most likely place where we land up in case of any break in the intermediate levels.



This track doesn’t suit the vast majority of our dalit children. Why?

Because, though they too need to enter into and study the highest course they can’t do it in a single sweep.


THE DALIT TRACK OF EDUCATION PROPOSED FOR PRESENT

For many a reasons our dalit children and youth have to take a break now and also later before they reach the heights.

THE CONSTRAINTS:

The very limited number of opportunities in higher education is one reason. Secondly, they are not considered for jobs except under reservation in the government vacancies. Then the quality of education imparted to them is another cruel reason. It declares them ‘unfit’. Then come the various other severe financial problems and responsibilities for individuals which is very wider and common for dalit youth and children. Many of them loose parental support from the age of 10. At 15 quite a number of them should support the aging parents – aging much early in their 30s and 40s – or support still younger brothers and sisters. Though lakhs of them are surviving without dying and are not bed ridden though starved, every individual cannot take this fact as an assurance for his / her case too. The assurance comes from the hopes of and the visible possibility of essential survival. As a result, every individual dalit feels incapable of planning for and of execution of those plans for essential survival. What remains is the effort for contextual survival.

That is what we observe, at which a majority of our dalit youth are. The option is, not bypassing the contextual living. We are not gifted so. We do not have such facility. Nor, do we have the power to gain that facility. Till the power comes into our hands we can’t bypass the contextual living. The only option left for us is what kind of contextual living. This is where our wisdom and power of wit should hit.

THE LOFTINESS OF OUR TARGETS SHOULD BE INTACT:

In the present era of human advancement one shouldn’t be severed, whatever be the needs of contextual survival, from the path of studies till higher education to ensure the essential survival.

All care must be taken to continue the link with the stream of studies though a contextual survival is forced and hence sought.

Best among such options is training in vocational courses.

The more suited track for our dalit children, till the compulsion of contextual survival continue, is portrayed in fig 2 below.



Fig 2 : A Figure Portraying the Appropriate Track For our Dalit Children and Youth.


The government has a policy related to vocational courses from their own need to serve the industry and other savarna needs. It also conducts few courses. But again even in this the dalits are harassed. It conducts almost all of them in English medium! How shamelessly policying!!

What the government has as a policy on this question is of less serious implication than the need to think and formulate for ourselves as what it should be from our own perspective and to pressurize the government for the implementation of the same. Few of the points that may be listed are: 1. The Vocational Courses must be conducted in the Local Tongue, 2. They must be included as part of the regular schools till Higher Secondary Level, 3. The component of vocational subjects must be relatively more at PLUS 2 Level, 4. They must be designed based on the local employment & work requirements and should assure the earning, 5. The track should have its own special continuity till the highest courses with a scope at every level either to continue in this special track or to enter into the general track, 6. The institutes must take the responsibility of showing the work after the completion of course designed and/or conducted by them, 7. All the Employers of such candidates must be enforced to give them the complete scope to pursue the higher education while in service, 8. English must be taught with sensible and effective programs, etc.

Vocational courses have a long history of two centuries the world over. There are research institutes and national forums in many of the countries. There is much advancement in the approaches. There are many achievements. A lot can be learnt from it straight away to effectively apply them in our context.

The Indian context throws a very big challenge for the modern approaches to vocational courses from the need of dalits – the vast majority of the Indian population.

It also must be seriously noted that the very urge to study, continue to study till the highest levels and study seriously till the core of the themes taken up each time for study is thoroughly understood – all these and their importance have to be stressed. The career guidance should not be limited to the sessions at the end of a specific course or a level in the ladder of studies – the education ladder. As part of the career guidance the needs of the ongoing study also are to be drawn together to make it sweepingly excellent and never and nothing less than that – the excellence. Career guidance is not a one shot program. It is a periodical, multi-faceted and multi-session program with continuity.

Hence, the career guidance program with this perspective should be conducted very extensively by stressing the salient features of this perspective.

We, the present generation of grown ups among the dalits need to take up this responsibility. Many centers and contact places and persons in cities and towns are to be identified for this purpose at the earliest. We have many resource persons to get successful results in this effort.

Immediately on the first instance the dalit children and adolescent and matured youth have to be supplied with the information on already existing vocational courses and the associated details. The perspective laid down herein and its salient features are to be appropriately transmitted keeping their respective compatibilities thoroughly in mind. In every session the need to study, continue to study and study to the core be stressed.

The special track of education with ever increasing component of vocational and job oriented courses which also continue to keep the doors for higher studies both in regular and special tracks open is to be designed more elaborately and fitting to each context of region, sub-region, and individual financial position and sub-conscious volitions.

It is also the need of the hour for our coordination, grouping together and effectively lobbying in the corridors of power with all the organized strength that we can derive from our community from every corner and every angle.

The way the dalits are to be educated be formulated by us. Thus, the education in India be redefined.

Let our hands and laps be the guards for the emerging new generation of our dalits.

7. THE UN AND THE INDIAN COMMUNISTS VS THE INDIAN DEMOCRACY

THE UN AND THE INDIAN COMMUNISTS VS THE INDIAN DEMOCRACY

Of late the UN is developing a better democratic perspective on Indian Social System than the native Communists.

The native communists of all traces and all ages have been showing an utter disregard for what was apparent and strikingly visible social structure and in stead were revising the reality to fix it into the terms of class division which they have borrowed mechanically from Marx and Marxism.

The very terms of class division and the path-breaking concept associated with it as propounded by Marx were only mechanically received by them. Possibly, a variety of disgruntled elements from the upper castes who were out-membered, ousted, ignored, overridden from power by their counter parts retaining the exclusive power in their hands – that naturally happens and has happened in India too as elsewhere on the globe in the arena of power politics – wanted a very strong and militant political rhetoric. Consequently they labeled their counter parts in power as capitalists or, to refer to another trace among these Indian communists, as landlords and bureaucratic bourgeoisie and themselves as the working class, peasants and middle class. May be few of them believed it at their heart. The immaculateness of a very few of them too is commendable for their sincere involvement to the extent their world view – as a reason of their birth and of course brought up too accrued to their intellect – permitted. They were very much humanists and marked their lives with absolute absence of chivalry found in their upper caste counter parts. They truly carve a niche of their own in the history of upper caste humanism in India. Yet, they couldn’t cross these limits of being just genuinely humanists to become the capable champions of Indian Democracy. To reiterate what is already stated herein – there is no other Democratic Perspective in India than the Dalit Perspective. Whatever. It is a pure chivalry or unbearable foolishness. Simply because one believes something, it can’t be automatically correct. What was even more dangerous than this belief of this out membered sect of upper castes is that their adamant and aggressive advocacy of this theory among the real oppressed.

They forced the idea of a new division of these Indian oppressed on the basis of class. They never succeeded in showing the physical truthfulness of it in the Indian context either for the understanding of the oppressed or even for their own understanding. The unbearable part of their attitude had been to be too adamant to note this failure. The same attitude continues. Hence, they, just on the face it, are and also had been an irrelevant junk in the historical evolution of Indian society. If probed deeply, they would be assessed as a potential constraint or even a threat for the launch of historical approach in the Indian intellectual arena.

Is it to say that Marxism is irrelevant? No. Never, it was so. Never it would be so till the advent of and its replacement by yet another advanced worldview. It is the Indian communist who brought Marxism with their upper casteist wrapping. It had been in their possession. Its implications were defined by them only. Their brahmanical approach and caste obsession made them so intellectually crippled that even in their embrace with the brightest of the philosophies – the Marxism – their ideological bankruptcy did not get even the slightest healing touch! Instead of considering going overseas and taking all that trouble of finding Marxism if they just looked to the exoteric part of India, great wisdom would have dawned upon them. In fact this communist herd of upper castes too reflects the typical brahmanical approach towards intellectual strength. As we mentioned earlier, the traditional brahminism has reduced the meaning of this strength to the mere craft to be inherited by virtue of birth and birth alone. In case of these Indian communists they reduced it to the knowledge of Marxism and of Marxist quotations. So, reducing it to the knowledge of English. They never permitted it to go beyond this and extend it to the understanding of Marxism. Perhaps, they were frightened with the hardships, ordeals and dedication required to evolve as such intellectuals. Whatever be that, they have finally conceived, circulated and forced their type of Marxism, which is stripped of methodologies and contains only the products. What is central to Marxism is the historical materialism. In the words of Marx alone it was a “conscientious study of” many “[14 ?] years”. What was the product? It was the theory of surplus value and scientific assertion of class division and eventuality of social evolution. It was just this product, devoid of the methodology that obtained it, was carried into India. Perhaps ‘political action’ was so irresistible for them that they felt studying the history of their subject society and adoption of a concrete historical perspective delays or diminishes it.

As a result they failed to appreciate even these theoretical products and miserably failed to show their true reflections in the Indian context. The predominance of caste system based on the Chaturvarna of Manu in all walks of life was left without explanation. The roots and ramifications of technique of division of labour by birth in the feudal economy too didn’t get the attention of their study. The growth of industry, which was supposed to level up all traditional divisions of society, in India has maintained the caste division intact even in its ambit of production processes perfectly well. If we see any good number of lower castes in skilled or white choler jobs in industry today, it is because of the ‘mercy’ of Dr. Ambedkar than because of the vulgar automation theory of social change with industrial growth as advocated by these communists. This makes one more point for them to drop their heads in shame for their antagonism or half-hearted support or distorted support for reservations.

Among them, even those with enormous knowledge of Marxism, have understood nothing of Marxism. The reason is that they lack social understanding and failed to take up the rigorous study of Indian society and its history. Had even a few elements of Marxism were passed on to the knowledge of the truly oppressed of India they could have gained a greater understanding of Marxism. The reason is that they experience the social reality and inherit a part of the Indian history if not in its entirety. The vulgarization of Marxism, of the Marxist forums and of the Marxist Flag in the hands of the Indian communists has also led quite many of the intellectuals emerging from the Indian oppressed to be even skeptic, unsympathetic and reserved about Marxism while most others of them retain the love and regard for it. It is not a problem. What is needed is not the mere literacy and the terminology of Marxism but the spirit of the oppressed and the methodology of historical materialism – the core aspect of Marxism. All their activities, struggles and movements have, at the best and even the most glorious of them, been just anti-government and were never for a new and democratic social order. The striking absence of a new social order, if any perceived by them, even in an embryonic form in any of their core forums or out-fit peripheral forums is simply a reflection of this lost focus. The forums of the dominant stream are legal and theirs are illegal or exposed to that risk. The leaders of the dominant forums are in power and the leaders of these forums are not in power. They enjoy greater power and these to enjoy a limited power to the extent of their influence on common people. Yet there is no difference in structures and to a larger extent in the procedures and practices too. Now a days for these communists killing of innocent and / or defenseless persons belonging to dalits and oppressed communities in the name of informers or violators of their dictates has become the order of the day. They do not seem to feel sorry for this. They have gone to the most deplorable extent in being pronouncedly undemocratic when they caution the common people that it is their responsibility if they are killed in their planned bomb-blasts when they are traveling in the same transport vehicles in which the police is also traveling. In summary, it has been the practice of all shades of communists to ignore the dalit identity, the Dalit Perspective and hence, the truly Indian Democratic Perspective. What to speak of the fate of socialism and egalitarian goals in their hands.

Thus is the emergence of Ambedkar distanced from communist forums and against them too and also is the emergence of Ambedkarism. It is a historical fact that Ambedkarism is the sole Democratic Perspective in the Indian context. Anything against it, not through it, bypassing it, .. is a sheer undemocratic perspective. Ambedkarism identified the democratic forces in India. They are the Dalits and the other oppressed communities. But it is an irony that in the present Indian scenario it is again the upper caste elements found usurping almost all the seats in all the forums labeled as democratic – be official or non-official.

If there is a demand for proportionate representation, also often called positive discrimination, it is highly democratic. It shows that the society where such demand echoes is moving from autocracy to democracy. Such demand is echoed only from the oppressed – the un-represented or less-represented. They constitute the democratic forces. If there is a poetry moving the hearts it is democratic. Where the roaring sounds of its downpour resonate such society indicates that it is moving from oppression to democracy. If new literary waves are rising high and the hitherto arrogant pens have become dumb and the traditional seats are tumbling up side down it is a sign of intellectual advancement of the oppressed. It is a happy sign for the launching of new trends in the intellectual arena with a farewell to ideological bankruptcy. If there are independent forums of the oppressed alone and formed and led by them alone emerging it signifies that the democratization of such society is imminent. All this we witness in India today.

Let the adversaries be not shocked just at this. The Dalits and their associate oppressed communities are stressing at present only on proportionate representation in all walks of life – wealth, employment, political forums, other bodies, etc. In this context it may be worth drawing the attention of all the Indian Democratic Forces to reconsider the model of separate constituencies as proposed and pressed by Babasaheb, which was later suppressed by the upper casteists. Any of these is only a demand for a due or could be even a little than due share in the power and authority in all walks of life. The thrust right now is not for absolute power. If these democratic efforts do not correct the Indian social order and if India can’t be launched on to the track of sustained growth in various industrial, agricultural, intellectual, cultural fields this last resort too may need consideration. Any way it would be a long future to venture a statement. Such ventures, again, are possible only for the bankrupt Indian communists. What big stakes do they have? Their clan is so nasty that it boasts of having the knowledge of aeroplane thousands of years ago. Wireless communications, medicines that bring the dead alive, star-wars, long jumps of tens of miles, etc. en-queue in that list. They accrued the worst kind of arrogance to state any thing according to their whims and fancies and never bother to feel responsible either to prove it or to accomplish it. For them proofs exist in relics or books. Whereas, the accomplishments are left to the never arriving or never perceivable future. Esoteric fellows and esoteric ideas.


Going back to the latest announcement of UN – the UN has simply echoed the on going phenomena in India. It has transmitted just the reflections of exoteric Indian social currents of the contemporary period. Thanks to the efforts of the Dalit activists and representatives and also of the other associating oppressed communities which made these echoes and reflections possible.

AUTHOURED BY
Sampath Kumar Thulasi
sampaththulsi@rediffmail.com
Mobile no: 9440413444

6. The Euphoria of quoting vedas

We often observe the intellectual in India deriving a lot from Veda, Geeta, Vedanta, Purana, etc. in support of his/her content.

This kind of exercise going on in India is a sheer counter intellectual acrobatics. Why? There are two reasons. One is all these contain all of human society except human essence. They are down to earth brahmanical. They are anti-dalit to the core. What all sense and talent they reflect is about the tact of conducting oneself in the given framework of Chaturvarna. Hence, it has nothing democratic in it. Hence, this style is far from being modern. Further, these are not popular among the public. They are esoteric in nature and the very script of Sanskrit is an esoteric language. Every time these are quoted a translation ensues. Else, none of the audience would know anything of it. Even if the translation is absurdly wrong no one knows! Let it all be so. Now let us take the second reason. Anyone has to strengthen one’s own ideas or presentations with popular idioms, proverbs, idioms, axioms, etc. One of the tragic scenarios in the Indian context is that the popularity of any of them in circulation is again influenced by the caste structure. What is popular among one caste people is not popular among others. What is exactly fitting in one context of audience of a specific caste runs absolutely against another caste and offends them. Still, one can pick, in spite of this divergence and complexity, sufficient number of maxims of exoteric nature. A maxim, exoteric in nature gives lot of support to the speaker and the content from the audience, as it reflects the power of wit of the community on one hand and on the other as it is already popular, accepted and felt strongly as part of culture and value system of the community. It is needless to say that this tendency exhibited in most of the stupid fellows gatherings is a clear reflection brahmanical approach that reduced the intellectual strength into a mere craft to be inherited. The outcome of these gatherings never added even an iota for the growth of Indian intellectual strength and intellectual vision. On the contrary, they have been crippling it. Also, that they have been promoting or have become platforms for the promotion of fools to the core as intellectuals. The historical approach has been every time stamped down and crushed and crushed to the ground in their circles.

Finally, what do you expect out of them or out of the people promoted by are groomed in such foolish gatherings ? Only dogmas. Can it be anything else ?


As part of such exercises it is not the intellectual capacities of the society or of the community or of that specific group that are growing and becoming strong. What is growing and becoming strong is the image and popularity of that individual lecturing. That is what is needed for the fellow lecturing. And, most surprisingly, that is what is needed even for the so-called most learned gentlemen and ladies of such gatherings.

5. ENGLISH AND DALITS

ENGLISH – THE DEMON

(In this article the wherever the expression "Mother Tongue" comes it may be replaced with "Child's Tongue" and MT - the abbreviation of Mother Tongue - be replaced with CT - being the abbreviation of Child's Tongue.)

The study of English in case of children of different MOTHER TONGUE (hereafter abbreviated as MT) should be a seriously planned one. One of the important things to be clinched at the very first step is that what of English language is expected from the student at the end of some phase. The course may be planned accordingly.

The issues of imparting education are in fact manifold. They include the following. 1. The methodologies. 2. The syllabus. 3. The break-up of learning time of the child into that of direct contact – which in turn is divided into two, first unidirectional and the second interactive – with the teacher, supervisory contact, of self learning, of peer learning, of co-curricular activities, of periodical exposure to selective expertise (contact with the expert persons) either directly or remotely. 4. The systems of evaluation. 5. Rigidly sticking to the concept of step-by-step building of child’s caliber with utmost care and never allowing any situation wherein the child is exposed to the risk of getting harassed with a piece of CR-topic that the child cannot link to its existing blocks of knowledge. 6. To take absolute care not to permit any such moment that creates even the slightest amount of aversion for CR teaching as that becomes the largest component of formal teaching as it grows. This is a very very delicate matter. The reasons are that we do not know which of such occasions are going to leave the strongest impressions for the child against the very CR-Exercise or against that subject handled at that moment or the topic / chapter or against the teacher – who is to be invariably faced and tolerated everyday thereafter in spite of the aversion against the teacher – All such damaging incidents are the order of the day in almost all schools – both of English medium and MT medium. 7. Designing the CR activity to be multi-programmed to address the needs of a highly heterogeneous class group. 8. Comprehensive assessment programs for children involving all the related teachers. The list can go on increasing so. Each one of the above is a serious and quite a big subject that necessitates there handling individually and at length.

But the single issue of English has taken the predominance over all these. Its consideration alone has surpassed the rest. The very medium of instruction (hereafter abbreviated as MEDION) is creating hurdles to consider any other issue. When we speak of any or many of the issues with any teacher the complaint is the medium of interaction. What to speak of interaction where, in fact, the very action – action of the teacher – is a great inaction, mime-action and distraction.

Going back to the English issue and its further details, we may resolve that the end calibers of students be aimed just at the level of presenting in English what they know.

The literary tenets of English need not be the prescribed end calibers, which in turn may be left to the individual taste of the student.

The ability to gain the skills to the extent of presentation, both orally and in writing is not anything special.

All students of any MT can easily gain that, provided a proper training program is designed.

Rest of the studies – in all other core subjects – be pursued in MT ensuring the greatest comfort both to the teacher and taught and enable the child to emerge with tremendous command on the content.

The MEDION should always be the MT to attain the best targets. What of just a language? It can be learnt any way. People are learning more than one language. Not just English, but German, French, Spanish, etc. too are learnt. What are needed to present in a specific language is first of all some content and then the knowledge of the structure of sentence of that language and some words depending on the intensity and diversity of the topic to be presented. Even those who are not literate do learn a different language as thoroughly as possible depending upon the need and environment. Examples are not needed. Thousands of such people are known to all of us. Then, it is too foolish and unkind not to underline the phenomenal abilities among the children. They can learn more than one – two, three, four, … so on – different languages just in a period of less than a year. Umpteen numbers of such cases can be shown and one should only directly listen to feel the joy and enthrallment while they speak so sweetly, freely and uninhibitedly in different tongues.

Why so much is said about the abilities of grown ups and of children is make one to immediately arrive at the conclusion that all have the abilities to learn any new language. There is no great deal in it. It is a stupid attitude that has spread very wide and deep that learning English is glorified and is made the prime goal. In that case why so many other subjects and make them also so important? Just conduct the schools with one subject – English, English, English, …. and again, English. At least that way children are in peace. And, hei(!) do note that they can thus learn a great deal of English too.

So, while these sentences are being read, is it signaled that the problem doesn’t lie with the abilities of the taught but with the abilities teachers.

A teacher is not just that single elderly human body standing and conducting a ‘teaching’ exercise before the kids. (We shall reserve the word teacher hereafter to mean that whole environment.)

A teacher is the whole environment along with the conventional teacher. A ‘teacher’ (the teacher in Class Room in the conventional sense – hereafter, CR-teacher) is simply a mediator, facilitator and with the greatest efforts possibly the best guide between the environment and the child.

This environment includes the physical infrastructure, the teaching tools and aids, the course planning, the qualities of each CR-teacher in singularity, the sum and summary of qualities of all the CR-teachers, the knowledge the school has about the environment for the child back at home, the specific program for the resolution of variance or conflict (if any) of home and school environments, parent and teacher interactions, etc.

Now it is time for us to pose a question for ourselves that whether this ‘teacher’ – the holistic teacher has ever evolved to give what is needed and what could otherwise been provided for the child.

To what extent the existing teacher can really teach a new language to the child? Be it English or any other ‘bloody’ language. (Sorry! No language is and can be bloody. After all they are the child and mother of some peoples. The vexation with the obsession about and the mad rush and blind craze arising out of that obsession observed around for English language – so because, it happens to be the language of the belligerent countries – expels that word ‘bloody’ uncontrolled by me.)

Now let the question be examined point by point. Are the targets about abilities in English clearly and rightly defined? Are there proper reviews on the very targets themselves? Is there a clear idea about the required program to teach English? Are all the teachers who are teaching different subjects and even that very English, capable of communicating properly in English? If not all, how many are capable? Thus what is the net resource strength of people that is at the disposal of the children? How to carry out the allocations?

So one simple question and a point of common sense that haunts is that do we have the needed amount of teacher resources to conduct instruction in so many English medium schools? Then why the hell the government should permit the proliferation of inefficient English medium schools? Why the government department of education, the academic and non-academic administrators, the ‘stalwart’ academicians, this great fool and that great fool remained silent while such colossal weakness was proliferating? Why they were even, in fact promoting it? Why, while the whole herd of private school managements were drawing all the existing teacher resources, which otherwise were very glorious and overwhelmingly sufficient if involved in conducting education in the MT, into a self-incapacitating structure of English medium instruction, all these were dumb and were looking at the criminal drama? Why they permitted this process of heart rendering desertion and the consequent deterioration, worsening, decline and corrosion of all the government schools? Of course, this criminal conspiracy was preceded by a systematic and large-scale negligence of the existing government schools of local medium and the same continues. Teachers have been and are still being used for government programs other than related to school and even conflicting with the regular academic work to a large extent. The very availability of the CR-teachers for the attending students is not cared for. Arey Wo, Luchche, Laffange, Un Chchathon ke Niche Bachche Hai Re! Wo Pure Masoom zindgiyan Hai Re!! Wo Bharat Ma Ke Aaj ke Saikdon Nanhe Bache Aur Kalke Javaan Bache Hai Re!!! Bharat Ma ki Goad Hai Re! Can you ever feel our agony, you treacherous fellows?

Most of the parents who have a social say have removed their children from the government schools. They realized the importance of education much earlier. But they saw the worthless scenario coming up in the government schools with so many deficiencies, the slowly surfacing un-teacherly attitudes among teachers being at the end of the queue of such deficiencies. By then English too was gaining importance. The products of class one English medium schools – existing by that time itself – were permitted to grab all the creamy opportunities of next level. The government permitted the growing prominence of English by introducing statutory norms and also by maintaining irresponsible silence in other kinds of occasions. (The great injustice that had been and is being perpetrated haunts my mind in the form of an incident that occurred 33 years ago and remains still a fresh memory because it is one among many which I keep recalling while the issues of education are considered. My classmate too appeared for engineering entrance then. We were the sole toppers in the class right from middle school where our association – classmate ship and friendship started. Only we two were being considered for swapping by those tricky and teasing ‘FIRST’ and ‘SECOND’ positions. English was also one of the compulsory subjects then in the engineering entrance. He couldn’t qualify just because he couldn’t get those bloody minimum marks in that bloody English. You can imagine the amount of despair he and we went through and however, with this and that talk of alternative paths in life he was made to console, resettle and keep up the morale. Thereafter what happened do you know? He pursued his UG in B.Sc. Did PG, perhaps, in Physics. Took up research, I think in BARC or IISc., Banglore. I was told he invented something. Later it came to be known that he joined some premier science institute in US. Firstly, judge how right that the criterion was. Then, ponder over the question that if the despair in him continued what would have happened to him. Further, can we assume that he alone is such of the victims? Aren’t there huge numbers of such victims of English alone, day in and day out? How many of them are regaining their spirits and are getting further opportunities? Is there anyone in the corridors of power caring to know about them? Do those in power have any alternative arrangements for them? Those who are in power never knew to offer anything except to snatch and steal away whatever precious things – both of material and mental – the weaker sections have.) Close to this the establishment of namesake English medium schools started. They emerged victorious in attracting huge crowds of students. Then started the phenomenal proliferation of mediocre English medium schools in this galli and that galli started. This was left uncontrolled and unchecked by the government. Lot of rubbish debates and opinions were circulated and pampered to thrive just to permit the spread of this epidemic. All this was resorted to by the rulers with two targets, perhaps, in mind which is understood only now by us. One thing is that the onus of establishing more number of schools to meet the growing number of school takers is totally removed. The second thing is that once this vocal section of the community – both in the village and the town – once switches over to a different arrangement severing their association in connection with children’s education with their counter parts of the weaker sections of the society, the pressure on the government to maintain even a little standard in the government schools is also greatly reduced. Who remain in the government schools are the down to earth exoteric people only. Thus they will have the greatest of the debris to experiment with ‘innovative’ ‘development’ educational programs.

O.K. While this is so, did they do at least anything useful for all those children of middle classes joined the mediocre English medium schools? Are they better in any way? No. One witnesses the similar melancholic scenario there too. Students overflow in these schools in numbers but continue and come out as highly incapacitated.

The most precious years of childhood are left ruined and can never be regained. Arey Wo Saitan Logon Samjhme Aaya Re? Wo Pal Hame Lauta Sakthere? Neither the joy of childhood is experienced nor some strengths for future are accumulated. Moreover, whatever generic and natural human strengths were there were spoiled, distorted, diminished, dwarfed, etc.

It is even becoming more and more incomprehensible for the very teachers to conduct the creative studies day by day. The two decades of experience for the teachers also did not make them more efficient in teaching and rather reduced their teaching abilities, skills, strengths and motivations drastically. They are becoming cynical. They are mentally deviating to become all but from being teachers. The role as a monitor instead of a mentor, the role as a ‘frustrator’ instead of a facilitator, the role as a yank / an anchor instead of a guide have all spoiled and is spoiling the teaching community, the image of the teacher in the eyes of the taught and the very relationship of the teacher and taught.

So the meddling of subject with language of instruction and meddling of language of instruction with subject by themselves are very big foolish exercises that are going on. Let us, first of all, reconcile to the reality. We do not have the proper teacher for English for a vast majority of our children. Yes, there is such teacher for English. But, it is only for a very very few.

Does all this mean advocating strict distance from the very English language for the vast majority? No not at all. It is only to advocate better learning of all the things, which include English too, to be learnt at that age to emerge as truly competent. How?

Before delving on this question let us note one fundamental thing of learning. That itself offers the greater part of the answer.

It is

THE COOPERATIVE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KNOWLEDGE AND LANGUAGE.


To learn a language there must be impressions in the mind. The child learns even its mother tongue (MT) based on the impressions. Even before the child starts uttering the first syllable of its MT – such syllable of my MT is ‘AMMA’ – there are some impressions on the brain of the child. The physical environment, the people around it and their actions – all and many such leave their corresponding impressions on the brain of the child. The child simply starts articulating them and more and more so does it as it grows in the process. This articulation increases interaction and improves and increments the impressions – the knowledge, they and their sum and summary are called – thus too.

Then the script – script of the scripted languages – too is learnt, of course under formal teaching, based on the impressions of the vocal forms of the language. Thus the vocal impressions transform into literal impressions.

Let us, once again restate this chain in one sentence. The sensory impressions left on the brain are articulated vocally and the thus germinated vocal impressions are articulated literally.

In this process with these faculties the phase of advanced learning and greater learning starts. The faculties themselves are also learnt further and further. If all goes well methods of learning are also learnt ahead. This, the later – learning methods of learning – by itself is a very big and serious subject. But do not forget that it is highly important. Just keep the following last lines of this paragraph in mind for a later consideration. Animals are trained. Humans are taught – taught not just to vomit out what is taught but to think. Just verify what we are providing for our children – is it in any way different or better than training. If it is felt that it is teaching what kind of teaching is it? Don’t worry. Our children do think, still. It is not our contribution and never was our concern in the mad rush. Thinking is so natural to and so strong in humans that it did not get crushed in spite of our disregard for it and brutal stampede over it that ensued out of our mad rush.

To learn all the presently standardized subjects even in the MT the teacher has not fully evolved to give that full support. At least the cooperative relationship between the MEDION and the knowledge – knowledge of nature and society – was safe when the MEDION was MT. With the foreign language as the MEDION the whole relationship has gone to the winds.

A substantial subject stuff about nature and the society – the knowledge, which was unknown hitherto is to be learnt through an unknown / unfamiliar language. The child naturally does not follow it. The subject CR-teacher, if has English command, finds problem with the language. Then tries to teach the unfamiliar language with the content so far unknown – that is with the help of impressions that were never there in the mind of the child. Neither the language learning is clinched nor the subject learning is clinched. Frequently the child is thrown into a diffused or a hallow state. A big paradox is thus encountered. Few sympathetic CR-teachers resort to usage of a bit of MT to get out of the paradox. There rises a big alarm and marathon debates continue on this. Till today this is not clinched. Why? The very roots are somewhere else. They are in the forced unholy alliance of a foreign language as the MEDION and the hitherto unknown subject knowledge. Did it come to your senses that why the cramming / learning by rout has become pathological mostly in those English medium schools than the Telugu – MT – medium schools. Inability, Inability. Incapacity, Incapacity. Not of the taught but of the teacher.

Decades have passed. Year after year innumerable lives are ruined. The spark of life faded out. Excellence from life was seized. All this is to come back never again. Can all this be ever retrieved or regained? How miserable could be a great many of those who have passed through these conspiratorial decades. Of course, they may not be sobbing for their state of misery. Life is too harsh to stay worried and sobbing, though the misery was inflicted by some one else. They may be struggling to make a base minimum survival and learning to forget rightful and otherwise attainable dreams, to live in mental peace. May be few of them are preparing to take a revenge against the treacherous fellows. Anything is perfectly right. But the question is how long this should continue? Why any more persons be forced either to forget dreaming are waste their precious and glorious life and energies in preparing to take revenges? No more. Not even a single moment and single person further.

Let there be a realization about what kind of teacher our children can be provided with. Come down to the reality. First of all forge the relationship between the language and knowledge which are mutually cooperative. Teach the children the subject knowledge to understand it properly and hence teach in MT – not the MT of the student but of the teacher, I am speaking. MT is different and the teacher is different. The MT may be a part of the teacher. But if the teacher is capable enough to hijack the child to conduct learning in a different language (Why beating around bush. It is English language) than the MT, its – the latter’s influence becomes insignificant in the process of advanced and greater learning. Don’t raise an alarm. This is an established reality. Recall one of our earlier sentences “But, it is only for a very very few.” So farewell to mother tongue! The concern for mother tongue is the concern of petty fellows. See the ‘learned’ sections of the community. How open minded are they without any inhibition for the MT and what kind of advancements (mind you, it is just for themselves) they are achieving! So great! Isn’t it! So I was not speaking about the MT of the child to be any constraint to choose the MEDION. I was speaking about the tongue that the teacher – the teacher available for a vast majority of our children – can speak, is familiar with. Can it make any sense to prescribe a MEDION for which the very teacher itself is unfit? It can’t. So choose the tongue of the teacher available to learn the knowledge required for life.

There are also strong opinions and observations that English is the knowledge required for life. As far as I am concerned I am incapable of simply rejecting it. It appears to be true when we can’t ignore a vast number of recruitments. Modern foolishness and spineless dependencies are ruling the roost. My knowledge is not sufficient to find any historical similarity on the globe where the knowledge of a foreign language became the required one for life for the vast mass of job seekers. We know of a foreign language becoming a part – a small and at times a significant part – of the knowledge required for life in case of a good number of job seekers but never in case of the vast mass of them. We also know that in case of few selective jobs knowledge of English becomes required for life wherein the very subject matter of that job is English. It is a great pathetic situation that we brought for ourselves. Nothing more to comment on this.

If English is also found required first of all measure / assess the dimensions – breadths and depths – of requirement. Do not make it a statutory liability for child. Make it a statutory responsibility for the statutory bodies and their representatives. Now assess the resource people and their potentialities. Design the program in the given scenario in two parallel streams. One is for the taught – to the extent teacher is capable. The other is for the teacher – to make the teacher further capable by providing all the necessary material, time and guidance and by stipulating deadlines. Set targets by a proper blend of identified requirements and available resource persons and potentialities. This way the children would learn English smoothly, comfortably and much more effectively than what they are learning today in those unworthy English Medium Schools. If it is found that the students haven’t learnt English properly it is not a counter proof, against the above alternative. Instead, it is a further proof of the inability of the teacher. If they didn’t learn well or say anything don’t worry. They will learn next year or next to next year. Don’t you know that full time course of few months is sufficient to learn English even if one starts from the first alphabet in English?

Stop permitting schools to conduct teaching in English. But, impose responsibilities and targets to improve the strengths of the children in English. To learn Hindi one doesn’t join Hindi medium. Consequentially, Permit no more new English medium schools. Encourage schools in teacher’s tongue. Once it is clear that English has become the teacher’s tongue no objection. Why to object then also? If it becomes objectionable then, it becomes so from a different point of view. May be it is the point of view of glory of the tongue of the land or love for the land or patriotism or this or that. Right now the mind is incapacitated to consider such a big concerns. At present it is solely the simple and mundane concern of making our individual children capable to make a living and lead a respectable life along with their counter parts in the society. Once that is met and ensured they would think of considering those big concerns. So, it is also to pass a dictate not to drag the issue into the currently meaningless and pedantic debate of “medium of instruction in abstract”.


Authored by

SAMPATH KUMAR THULASI

sampaththulsi@rediffmail.com
Mobile: +91 94404 13444