The Importance of Mother Tongue in the National Education Policy 2020

Himangshu Ranjan Bhuyan

(hrbhuyancolumnist@gmail.com)

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has ushered in a transformative shift in India’s education system, aiming to make education holistic, flexible, practical, inclusive, and universally accessible. A central pillar of this policy is the emphasis on the mother tongue, a visionary and revolutionary step in the context of India’s multilingual, multicultural, and diverse society. This approach to education through the mother tongue lays a robust foundation for students’ intellectual, emotional, social, cultural, and ethical development. Furthermore, it significantly contributes to preserving India’s linguistic diversity, promoting indigenous knowledge, reducing educational disparities, and fostering social cohesion.

The mother tongue is a child’s first language, naturally acquired from family, society, and the surrounding environment. It serves as the primary medium for expressing thoughts, emotions, and experiences, forming the bedrock of a child’s intellectual and emotional growth. Using the mother tongue in the early stages of education simplifies, enhances, and naturalises the learning process. Education delivered in the mother tongue enables children to grasp complex concepts, subject matter, and analytical thinking with ease, as the language is familiar and comfortable. This method boosts students’ confidence, positively impacting their academic performance, creativity, and critical thinking abilities. Education in the mother tongue is also vital for emotional stability, as it deeply connects students with their cultural identity. This connection fosters a strong sense of self-identity, reinforcing ethical values, social responsibility, and community cohesion. Recognising this, the NEP 2020 recommends using the mother tongue or local language as the primary medium of instruction, particularly in the first five years of schooling. This approach strengthens students’ educational foundation while reducing the likelihood of educational exclusion, marking a significant step toward improving the overall quality of the education system.

India’s multilingual and multicultural landscape provides a unique context for implementing this policy. With hundreds of languages and dialects, including 22 languages recognised in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, India’s linguistic diversity is both a vast opportunity and a complex challenge for its education system. Beyond these recognised languages, numerous local languages and dialects form an integral part of the nation’s cultural, historical, and social richness. Previous education policies overly emphasized English and Hindi, often neglecting local languages. This led to the alienation of many students from their mother tongues, resulting in diminished interest in education, declining academic performance, and increased educational disparities. The NEP 2020 seeks to address this issue by advocating the use of the mother tongue or local language as the medium of instruction, enabling students to remain deeply connected to their language, culture, and heritage. This approach makes the educational experience more natural, effective, and inclusive, improving academic outcomes and ensuring equitable access to education for all.

The NEP 2020 proposes a three-language formula, incorporating the mother tongue alongside Hindi and English. This flexible approach provides students with opportunities to develop multilingual proficiency while acknowledging the importance of the mother tongue. The three-language formula allows students to build foundational knowledge, analytical skills, and critical thinking in their mother tongue during the early years. Subsequently, exposure to Hindi and English paves the way for effective communication at national and international levels. This balanced approach enhances students’ multilingual capabilities while maintaining their connection to their cultural roots. It creates a bridge between local and global knowledge, proving highly beneficial for students’ academic, social, and professional lives. Beyond academic empowerment, this method ensures students remain rooted in their cultural identity in an era of globalisation, a critical factor for their holistic development.

Teachers play a pivotal role in implementing mother tongue-based education. They must be equipped to teach in students’ mother tongues, necessitating robust training programmes. Teachers need to master strategies for delivering education in local languages, tailoring their methods to align with students’ linguistic and cultural contexts. Such training enhances teachers’ ability to communicate effectively with students, making the learning process more successful. Additionally, textbooks, teaching materials, and other resources must be developed in local languages. Many local languages lack a standardized written form, making the creation of educational materials a complex, time-consuming, and costly endeavour. Collaboration among linguists, scholars, educators, and technologists is essential in this regard. The use of digital platforms can expedite this process, making educational content more accessible to both students and teachers, thus simplifying the learning experience. The NEP 2020 emphasizes teacher training to ensure educators can effectively fulfil these responsibilities. Through specialised training, teachers will acquire skills in local language pedagogy, curriculum design, and alignment with students’ linguistic environments.

Mother tongue-based education significantly contributes to preserving and promoting students’ cultural identity. Each Indian language is intertwined with a unique culture, tradition, lifestyle, philosophy, and repository of knowledge. Education in the mother tongue allows students to stay deeply connected to their cultural roots, fostering a sense of cultural pride and strengthening their self-identity. This connection is vital for emotional stability, confidence, and social responsibility. In an era of increasing Western cultural influence due to globalisation, mother tongue education plays a crucial role in preserving and promoting Indian culture. Through local languages, folklore, mythology, songs, poetry, philosophy, and other literary treasures can be preserved and passed down through generations. Mother tongue education organises, sustains, and enriches this process, fostering respect and pride for indigenous knowledge among students, which supports their ethical and social development.

The use of the mother tongue in education also addresses educational disparities in Indian society. The urban-rural divide has long been a persistent challenge, with many rural children struggling to adapt to English-medium education due to limited exposure to the language in their environments. This results in lower educational quality, poor academic performance, and, in many cases, complete exclusion from education. Mother tongue education mitigates this disparity by enabling rural children to learn in their familiar language, increasing their interest in education, improving academic outcomes, and making educational opportunities more accessible. This approach is particularly beneficial for children from marginalized communities, such as tribal groups, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and other disadvantaged sections, who often struggle with English- or Hindi-medium education due to its disconnect from their daily lives. By providing education in the mother tongue, their right to education is ensured, making educational opportunities more equitable and inclusive. This method not only boosts students’ interest in education but also paves the way for their social and economic advancement.

Implementing mother tongue education presents challenges within India’s multilingual and diverse society. Developing textbooks, teaching materials, and resources for hundreds of languages and dialects is a complex, time-intensive, and expensive task. Many local languages lack a standardized written form, necessitating collaboration among linguists, scholars, and educators. A shortage of teachers proficient in local languages poses a significant hurdle, compounded by the need for specialised training to equip educators with the skills to teach in these languages. Societal and parental mindsets also present challenges, as many parents prioritize English-medium education, believing it offers better professional and global opportunities for their children. This perception may reduce enthusiasm for mother tongue education, hindering the policy’s implementation.

Addressing these challenges requires concerted efforts. Central and state governments must collaborate to develop educational materials in local languages, leveraging the expertise of linguists, scholars, educators, and technologists to create textbooks, digital content, educational apps, and other resources. Digital platforms can accelerate this process, making materials widely accessible, particularly in remote and rural areas. Teacher training programmes must be strengthened, and policies for recruiting teachers proficient in local languages should be prioritized to address shortages. Training should focus on equipping teachers with strategies for local language pedagogy, curriculum design, and alignment with students’ linguistic contexts. Raising awareness among parents and communities about the importance of mother tongue education is critical. Media, social media, local communities, and educational institutions can play a role in shifting mindsets, emphasising that mother tongue education strengthens students’ academic foundations while enhancing multilingual skills and global communication abilities.

Mother tongue education holds the potential to bring about long-term, transformative change in India’s education system. It will improve educational quality by enabling students to learn in their familiar language, enhancing academic performance, creativity, and critical thinking. Educational disparities will be reduced, ensuring access to education for children in rural, marginalized, and tribal communities. This approach will make education more equitable and inclusive, contributing to societal development. The preservation of cultural and linguistic diversity will strengthen India’s cultural heritage, while mother tongue education fosters creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, and ethical values. Learning in their native language makes students feel more comfortable, increasing their engagement and enriching their educational experience. This policy can propel India toward an education system that is holistic, socially equitable, culturally rich, and aligned with global standards. Such a system will not only empower students academically but also prepare them to build a balanced, cohesive, and creative society through a synthesis of local and global knowledge.

The emphasis on the mother tongue in the National Education Policy 2020 is a groundbreaking step for India’s education system. It will play a pivotal role in students’ intellectual, emotional, cultural, and ethical development while preserving and promoting India’s linguistic and cultural diversity. Despite implementation challenges, these can be addressed through strategic planning, collaboration, resource utilization, and societal awareness. Mother tongue education will make India’s education system more inclusive, equitable, culturally vibrant, and globally competitive. With successful implementation, India can build an education system that rivals the world’s best, significantly contributing to the nation’s social, cultural, economic, and ethical progress.