Two recent reports in The Economic Times frame how a lack of English proficiency is playing havoc with young, to-be engineers’ plans. One detailed how 67 per cent of engineering grads in India do not possess the required English fluency to make them employable. Another report highlighted how a number of graduates of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and National Institute of Technology (NIT) routinely drop out due to their inability to cope with English instruction on campus.
Coaching institutes in cities such as Kota, which has become a hub of IIT-JEE (IIT-Joint Entrance Examination) training, hire faculty who are IIT passouts themselves, so the instruction in maths, physics and chemistry is nonpareil. But there are no classes to improve English skills. The IITs let you write the JEE in a number of languages but the language of instruction on campus is English. No wonder this engenders a sorry state of affairs.
The obsession with IITs has entailed a culture in our country where engineering studies are preferred to any other kind. Not only is there a regrettable lack of interest in the humanities, but this mindset extends to the study of languages also. Languages are considered just another tool with which to advance one’s career. While no one expects everyone to be interested in literature, a purely utilitarian approach to language can also backfire, as brought out by the inability of even brilliant students to cope with the English syllabus.
This is worrisome also because Indians are globally known for their proficiency in English, yet we have a situation where students, who are ready for tertiary education, are not up to speed with the language.
Let’s explore this phenomenon. The massive rise in Indian writing in English is an outcome of the rising sales that books by writers such as Amish Tripathi and Chetan Bhagat clock. Youngsters in small towns lap up these books as much for their narrative flow as for the simple English that can be easily understood as well as used as a learning tool. Yet, there remains a yawning gap in the skills of those who are required to be comfortable with the language.
The generation right after Independence was much inspired by the ideals of Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, a slick English speaker and writer who could hold his own in any debate in the language. This was a time when knowledge of English was built into the fabric of the country due to the demand for a national unifying tongue. The Indian fascination with babudom, reflected in our great regard for the Indian Administrative Service as a career option, ensured that English reigned supreme.
While English as a language continued to grow, a change in the public’s attitude towards the language, I would reckon, was brought about by the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a political force. Some of the arguments against English, that it was an outside force that one had to grudgingly imbibe for career success, were neutralised by the political success of a party, which cocked a snook at foreign cultural influence.
On the gentler end of this spectrum was the massive adulation for a leader like Atal Bihari Vajpayee whose chaste Hindi was a pleasure to listen to. On the other hand were those who sought to debunk English under the guise of cultural nationalism. Some parties like the Shiv Sena exposed their rank hypocrisy when their leaders took a political stand against English in public but ensured that their own wards were fluent in the language.
But the rise of the BJP was contemporaneous with the opening of the Indian economy, which brought about a stellar increase in the demand for English speakers. The middle class was the greatest beneficiary of this phenomenon and the job preference among this group shifted quickly from government jobs where lack of English could pass muster to the private sector where one could not survive without the language.
It was the lower middle classes and the rural folk who benefitted the least from this change. While more opportunities were available, lack of English proficiency severely limited options for them.
Yes, English is the global lingua franca due to the spread of British colonialism, which was an unmitigated evil. And yes, a love for native languages is essential for a certain muscular belief in oneself and one’s society. But these arguments imperil historical truth. The world today demands English proficiency and those who preach otherwise in the guise of nationalism do grievous harm to the future of the young.
There seems to be a reprisal of the anti-English mentality with the rise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, given that his English skills are halting at best. Even learned commentators are heard saying that English proficiency in today’s India is only an asset, not a necessity. This is patently untrue. Vajpayee and Modi are outliers whose political skill drowned out any deficiencies they might have had, and it is to their credit that they could reframe a lack of English proficiency as not a defect.
However, the situation on the ground is different. The common man understands this, which is why you see so many English-speaking institutes mushrooming across the country. Yet, this is a generational issue mixed up with caste and class, and will take much time before incidents like IIT dropouts stop.
The author has switched too many jobs in the past and hopes he can hold down this one
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