Keep Telugu alive in the classroom without closing the doors to the world
Opinion: this editorial reflects the editor's view.
Telugu is spoken by millions, yet many Telugu children now grow up reading English more fluently than their mother tongue. Telangana decided in 2018 to make Telugu a compulsory subject in all schools. In Andhra Pradesh, the move to convert government schools to English medium sparked a heated debate about what would happen to Telugu. Underneath the politics is a simple worry: if the language is not learned at school, it will fade at home.
The sensible middle path is to treat Telugu and English as partners. Children learn best in the language they speak at home, which is why the National Education Policy recommends teaching in the mother tongue or home language at least until Class 5, and preferably until Class 8. English should be taught well and early as a subject, so that no child is shut out of jobs and higher education. As Venkaiah Naidu, the former Vice-President, has said, the aim is that everyone studies Telugu as a language and a subject, not that every school must teach in Telugu.
Language is also about use. Government orders, court notices and websites should be available in Telugu, and so should good books, apps, films and news. Readers and viewers keep a language alive.
The other side
Many parents see English medium as the key to better jobs and say they should be free to choose, and some educators argue that compulsion does not create love for a language. Others worry that mother-tongue teaching may disadvantage children who later compete in English for higher education. Private schools say implementation is costly and uneven.
