Three language formula in India

Published on 28 Jan 2025

According to the National Education Policy of 1968, the three-language formula means that a third language (apart from Hindi and English), which should belong to Modern India, should be used for education in Hindi-speaking states. In the states where Hindi is not the primary language, regional languages and English, along with Hindi shall be used.

Concerns Associated with Three Language Formula

• Increased Burden on Students: Learning a third language without any confirmed utility acts as an extra burden on students who are already under pressure.

• Example: Students with Tamil as mother tongue might find it difficult to learn Hindi which is linguistically unrelated with a different script. 

• Data Illegitimacy: Draft policy’s push for Hindi seems to be based on the premise that 54% of Indians speak Hindi, but there is lack of clarity regarding the authenticity of this data.

• Example: According to the 2001 Census, Hindi is the language of less than 44% Indians and the mother tongue of only a little over 25% people in India.

• Opposition from Non-Hindi States: Greater push for making Hindi a pan-India language, is seen as imposition of Hindi by many states, especially that of the South. 

• Example: The states like Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Tripura were not ready to teach Hindi and Hindi-speaking states did not include any south Indian language in their school curriculum.

• Lack of Resources with State governments: For resource strapped state governments, it will be an extraordinarily difficult task to invest in so many language teachers in a short span of time.

• Non-Availability of Regional Language Teachers in Hindi States: Due to Unavailability of Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam teachers in Hindi States, the Third Language is often neglected. 

• Violation of Personal Liberty: Accusations of forced imposition of Sanskrit and Hindi via discriminatory central funding. 

Way Forward 

• Flexibility to states: Providing the states with autonomy in the language policy seems to be a much more viable option than homogenous imposition of three language formulas all over India.

• Proportionate funding for promotion of regional languages: Funds to be allocated in Hindi States for equivalent promotion of Classical Languages like Tamil, Telugu etc similar to Central funding for Hindi Promotion under Article 354. 

• Compulsory primary education in mother tongue: NEP 2020 promotes Early Childhood Education upto Class 5 in mother tongue to enhance the cognitive and learning capabilities of children.  

• Creation of technological and scientific literature in regional languages 

• Example: The All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) recently translated 218 engineering books which are for first-year students into 11 regional languages

• Unity in Diversity: Instead of making languages compulsory via executive decisions, create the demand to learn a particular language by enhancing the educational and job prospects of that language.

• Example: Demand for Malayalam Teachers due to interstate labor migration to Kerala

• Preservation of Traditional Knowledge: Augmenting the linguistic uniqueness of Classical Languages.

• Example: Use of syntaxes in Sanskrit linguistics for computational purposes in AI development. 

Thus, the language policy to be adopted in India shall not infringe the development of regional language and must offer a level ground for the growth of all languages, thus preserving India’s linguistic diversity.

Tags:
Social Justice

Keywords:
Three language formula National Education Policy Non-Hindi States Regional Language primary education in mother tongue

Syllabus:
General Studies Paper 2

Topics:
Social Justice