A Discussion: “Gujarati Medium or English Medium?”(Video)
A Discussion on
Gujarati Medium
or English Medium?
Part.1(Gujarati)
Part.2
Part.3
Ahmedabad/Mumbai, DeshGujarat
For last some years English medium schools are in trend in Gujarat and Mumbai. This has badly affected Gujarati medium schools. Here is a video discussion, where “Gujarati Medium or English Medium?” topic is discussed by parents, experts and thinkers. This program was conceptualized by Shri Haribhai Kothari in Mumbai.
In Gujarat and Mumbai, nowadays most of the urban children enroll in English medium school where they learn English and Hindi in kg and Gujarati then after from first class. Most of the Gujarati children studying in English medium can not write or read Gujarati. They can count in Gujarati. If you ask an English medium Gujarati child how much is “Chhatris”, he/she will not be able to reply it as 36.
One more thing. This discussion had taken place before some five years. Nowadays even this question of “Gujarati medium or English medium?” has become irrelevant among the urban under 35 class. For almost all urban elites and educateds, English medium school has become by default choice for their children.
અમદાવાદ/મુંબઈ, દેશગુજરાત
ગુજરાતના શહેરોમાં અને મુંબઈમાં ગુજરાતી માધ્યમની શાળાઓની હાલત બદથી બદતર થઈ રહી છે. બહુ જ ધીમેથી શરૂ થઈને પછી એકદમ ઝડપથી ગુજરાતી મીડિયમના બદલે સ્કૂલનું અંગ્રેજી મિડીયમ બાય ડિફોલ્ટ રીતે મુખ્ય મિડિયમ બની રહ્યુ છે. ઉપર વિડિયોમાં હરિભાઈ કોઠારી દ્વારા પ્રેરિત થયેલી ચર્ચાનો વિડિયો છે. ચર્ચાનો વિષય એ છે કે બાળકને ગુજરાતી મિડિયમમાં દાખલ કરવુ કે અંગ્રેજી મિડિયમની સ્કૂલમાં? ચર્ચાનું આ રેકોર્ડિંગ હકીકતમાં પાંચ વર્ષ જૂનુ છે. અન્યથા આજે તો આવી ચર્ચા પણ નથી થતી. શહેરી એલીટનો અને એજ્યુકેટેડસનો આખેઆખો વર્ગ પોતાના બાળકોને અંગ્રેજી મિડિયમમાં જ દાખલ કરે છે. ગુજરાતી માધ્યમ વિશે વિચારતા સુદ્ધા નથી. એક સમયે અમદાવાદની સીએન સ્કૂલમાં એડમીશન માટે ત્રણથી ચાર હજાર ફોર્મ આવતા હતા એ હવે છસોથી સાતસો થઈ ગયા છે. અમદાવાદની શારદામંદિર સ્કૂલે અંગ્રેજી માધ્યમ શરૂ કરી દીધુ છે, સીએન કરવાની છે. મુંબઈમાં ગુજરાતી માધ્યમની શાળા લગભગ લુપ્ત થઈ ગઈ છે. ત્યારે જુઓ ઉપર ગુજરાતી મિડિયમ કે અંગ્રેજી મિડિયમની વિચારતા કરી મૂકે એવી ચર્ચા કે જેમાં ભાગ લીધો છે, વાલીઓએ, નિષ્ણાંતોએ, ચિંતકોએ અને શિક્ષકોએ પણ.
April 19th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
JP, This is real good video, please put rest soon - Thanks.
April 19th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
great,
Keep it up
April 19th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
This is a Great discussion, far better than the worse to worst political discussions going on India’s news tv channels these days. Those discussions are headache. this one is though provoking and wonderful.
April 19th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
good video for information…
April 19th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
jp this is really good discussion & very very helpful in todays education race between gujarati & english .dear jp it is also necessary that this video should be put to the local people of ahmedabad who dont have internet at home.if it is available then let us know , waiting for remaiing parts , thanx very much jp for selecting this type of good issue in your site , thanx desh gujarat.com
April 20th, 2008 at 2:11 am
પાછલા દોઢ વર્ષથી નિયમિત રીતે જોતો આવ્યો છું કે દેશગુજરાત.કોમ ગુજરાતીઓના ઘડતરનું સ્થળ બની રહ્યું છે. તમને અંદાજ પણ નહી હોય કે તમે ઘડતરનું કેવુ સુંદર કામ કરી રહ્યા છો. વિદેશમાં વસતા ગુજરાતીઓ આ સાઈટ વગર ન ચલાવી શકે એટલું બધુ આ સાઈટમાં છે. આ બદલ આપની ટીમને ખૂબ ખૂબ અભિનંદન. ઉપરનો વિડિયો દિલને ઢંઢોળે છે, ચિંતન કરાવે છે અને ઉપરનું લખાણ ગુજરાતી ભાષાના ભવિષ્ય વિશે ચિંતા કરાવે છે.
April 21st, 2008 at 6:18 am
|| jai shree krishna ||
agar Gujarati medium schools band thai jashe to purna Gujarati-shaahitya khatm thai jashe………
|| jai shree krishna ||
April 21st, 2008 at 11:10 am
Same problem in Bengol too.
April 25th, 2008 at 2:24 am
This video rocks. The level of discussion is high. More shows like this should be generated.
April 25th, 2008 at 3:15 am
Aapna bhashaabhimaan ne aapni pragati maa avrodh banva desho nahi. Good to preserve Gujarati language but we are lagging behind in education? Anyone educated in gujarati medium does not develop reading habits in English. Eventually this takes a toll on ability to read enough technical literature. How many Gujaratis do you see in IITs or IIMs.
The example given of Chinese is WEAK. India has 18 officially recognized languages and 22,000 dialects. If everyone is to keep education in mother tongue, can you imagine how we are going to apply our knowledge in industry and in market place in each of these 18 languages. Today you study in Gujarat but you may work in another state. If education in college is also in Gujarati then how would you work elsewhere. If only school education is in mother tongue, but college education is in English then you will cram instead of understand your courses in college. I have seen this myself in many students. Cramming may be OK at school level but not at college level. China has kept everything in one language: mandarin that’s why things are different for them. We don’t have one language all over the country. The ideology presented in these talks has kept Gujarat backward. There is no knowledge based industry in Gujarat because of same reason.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:45 am
GUJARATI MEDIUM’s MRUTYU GHANT IN GUJARAT
Read this Times of India article of 5th May 2008
Ahmedabad: For the first time ever, the Gujarat education department has granted permission to over 130 secondary and higher secondary English medium schools in the state, all in selffinanced category.
All these schools will commence classes from the academic session beginning June 2008. The state government had received over 170 applications for starting such English medium schools, while for Gujarati medium, it received over 140 applications.
Gujarat education department officials said that the demand for English medium schools was more than that for Gujarati medium schools. Majority of parents wish to send their children to English medium schools, said officials, adding that almost all the schools were in the urban centres like Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Vadodara, Surat and other district headquarters like Junagadh and Bhavnagar. A board official said that about 50 Gujarati medium self-financed schools had to close down in the last academic year, but not a single English medium school was forced to shut down due to paucity of students.
Chairman of Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB), RK Pathak said, “The craze for English medium is on the rise, but there is a shortage of qualified teachers. And, this problem is likely to continue for the next five years. Now that the people of Gujarat have realized the importance of English in the day-today life, parents opt for English schools over Gujarati ones.”
Echoing similar views, Bhaskar Patel, general secretary, All Gujarat State School Management Association, Pathak said, “There is definitely a dearth of English teachers and also lack of colleges offering BEd course in English. This also adds to the problems, as not many students pass out.” He said, “There is need for more colleges to train teachers. At present, schools hire freshers and train them.”
May 18th, 2008 at 6:42 am
Read this 16th May 2008 Times of India report on English medium result in board.
English-medium students get raw deal
16 Out Of 18 Slots In Class XII Toppers’ List Go To Gujarati-Medium Schools
Ahmedabad: There is something really rotten about the school education system in Gujarat. The lack of fairness came out loud and clear on Thursday when the board results for class XII (Science) were declared.
Overall, English-medium students have fared much better, but only two of them figure in the 18-strong merit list of students who have secured the top-10 positions.
While the pass percentage of English medium schools is 78.35 and that of Gujarat medium schools is 75.79 per cent, it is baffling how 15 slots at the top of the charts have gone to Gujarati-medium students.
“This is definitely not a new trend; there is an inherent bias in the system against students from English-medium schools which we have come to accept over the years,” says a principal of a missionary school who does not want to be identified. The reasons for biases and unfair markings are not far to seek. TOI had reported in the build-up to the results how the education board was struggling to find teachers from English-medium schools to check the papers.
One teacher, who went for checking papers, said, “The moderators who supervise us during the checking of papers are always from Gujarati-medium schools and they clearly tell those who check answerpapers to be severe with Englishmedium students and liberal with Gujarati-medium students.”
Though the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) officials claim they have removed the bias by abandoning the practice of getting English-medium papers corrected by Gujarati-medium teachers, things do not seem to have been ironed. RK Pathak, chairman of GSHSEB, however had a strange logic.
“The English-medium students are intelligent but do not strive hard enough, whereas Gujaratimedium students carry out in-depth study and work very hard. There is no problem in checking of papers.”
TIMES VIEW
For a state government which openly advocates promotion of English in schools as a tool to help Gujarat achieve its global ambitions, it should be a matter of concern that growth of the language is being shackled by inherent prejudices. While Gujarati should be preserved and promoted, just as Gujarat’s culture and traditions, merit should not be smothered at such a crucial juncture in these young lives.
June 24th, 2008 at 11:19 am
My child studing in english medium and now he is in 6th standard. no i am frusted becuse he is not speking in english and not able to reading gujarat also.
I want to kno solution for the saem at this time
pl reply me as early as possible on the same
i am in trouble now.
Bhogilal Suthar
11/A Iffconagar Society
Near aNkit Vidhyalaya,
Panchvati area,
Kalol,
Dist : Gandhinagar
November 16th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
if we think that english is better then our countery never be a countery likd germany,spain,italy,china,japan,argentian,brazil,finland,france and so other which are well deleloped.
people are crazy for english only because every one want to goto abroad or they feel that only the people who can speak english are cool or advance people..
why we are not thinking that hindi can be a internation language despite 1 billion people of population.. and if you are in technology or science langauge is doesn’t matter. 1+1 =2 in all language..
i agree that english must be 2 or 3 language. you must have some good knowldge of english but you don’t have to devote all your life for english.
now a days chanise are doing good. i think after some time i am not surprise we may have chinese medium..
we are only after money. we don’t have our own identity.. never mind. Hum sale gulam log kabhi sudhar nahi sakte.