Tamil has all along been the essential fuel in the fire of Dravidian politics, particularly in the last century. The situation, however, is changing and the signs are more than visible. The ruling dmk governments decision to implement Tamil as the medium of education up to class V has met with resistance. And for the first time in 100 years, a move to propagate Tamil might boomerang on the political leadership.
The Tamil Nadu government ordered last fortnight that with effect from the academic year 2000-2001, the medium of instruction will be only Tamil or the mother tongue in all matriculation schools as also those following the state board syllabus. According to minister for Tamil culture and official language M. Tamizhkudimagan, there were 41,000 government schools, 3,000 government-aided schools and 10,000 nursery schools and henceforth "in all schools, including unaided institutions, the first language will be either Tamil or the mother tongue. However, the government order will not apply to cbse and Anglo-Indian schools."
But this has triggered off a protest which is gaining ground as the new academic year is fast approaching. Says Vislakshi Ravi, who wants her son Ashwin to study only in English: "When the government is not guaranteeing employment, it is not fair on its part to decide what the children should learn. English gives mobility and opens worldwide opportunity." Says a Tamil professor in Madras University: "The dmk first came to power in 67 and memories of the strong anti-Hindi agitation were fresh. That was the time to implement the scheme."
The 1980s and 1990s witnessed the mushrooming of English medium schools. With the employment focus shifting from government jobs to the private sector, the craze for English education acquired a new sheen. The advent of the new economic policy and globalisation further accentuated the aspiration. "We love Tamil. But education must be in English, with Tamil as a compulsory language," declares Shekar, father of two school-going children. Consequently, most parents intend to shift their children to cbse schools.
Fearing the exodus, the managements of non-cbse private schools have moved the Madras High Court challenging the government order introducing Tamil as the compulsory instruction medium. The TN Nursery, Primary, Matriculation and Higher Secondary School Managements Associations petition stated that matriculation schools were brought under the state board in 1976 and it was reiterated then that the separate entity of these institutions would be maintained and the medium of instruction would be English, with Tamil as a compulsory language.
According to B.T. Kumar, general secretary of the association, there are 15,000 schools in the state providing English medium education. Of them, the government had granted recognition to 10,000, including 5,000 primary schools and an equal number of matriculation higher secondary schools. "As many as 40 lakh children are studying in these institutions where almost 2 lakh are employed as teachers. When admitting children, parents were promised that their wards would be educated in English. It is a travesty of justice to impose Tamil on us," he contends.
On January 4, the state government filed its counter-affidavit, claiming that it has the power to regulate, modify or introduce any particular language as medium of instruction. It also held that it had the right to implement any scheme in the field of nursery and primary education.
It was a myth to say that parents wanted their children to study in English medium schools, the state government argued. The counter-affidavit, filed by M.P. Vijayakumar, additional secretary, school education department, stated that all along parents had to admit the children in English medium schools regardless of their option; whereas after the government order, "the patriotic parents will only be too happy to welcome the policy to introduce Tamil as the medium of instruction in all nursery and primary schools". The state government also overruled the claim of schools that the power to choose the instruction medium lay with them.
Besides, the Constitution enjoined every state to facilitate the instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage. So, the stand of associations of private and matriculation schools on government interference was untenable, it held.
This English versus Tamil battle seems to be the first fallout of the liberalisation process and perhaps also explains the waning Dravidian zeal and southern outfits cosying up to pan-Indian parties like the BJP.
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