The Vernacular Debate

English medium education and a large English speaking population has worked wonders for the country. "A large English speaking workforce" is arguably the second most important selling point for investors after "a large(hence cheap) workforce."
Communication is not lost in translation. Its the ideal destination for outsourcing, back-end jobs and all tasks that can be completed by following a sequenced set of instructions.


An even larger Non-English speaking workforce works equally well for the economy. They're readily available for work in the manufacturing industry and sweatshops. They're not allowed to dream big and keep themselves in their places. They're a large in numbers(hence cheap) workforce.


The success story is excellent on paper. The growth drivers look just right for steering a fast growing economy to success. India's the world's 4th largest economy by Purchasing Power Parity.


Well, that's just the brighter side.

The nation is still and also estimated to have a third of the world's poor. 37% of the total Indian people falls below the national poverty line of Rs 37 per day.(The poverty limit is another joke on human intelligence anyway).


The school dropout rate is extremely high. A great percentage of population in underdeveloped states challenges the relevance of compulsory education. Levels of homelessness, health, human development factors continue to rank amongst the world's lowest.

The other day I had a conversation from a simple man from a small city in rural Maharshtra, who came to Mumbai years ago, works as a bartender at a small time bar. What prospects does he have for the future. He can aspire to open his own bar. Alas! He cannot. In the F&B industry dominated by the English speaking elite, no one would take him seriously. He wouldn't be able to find partners, the bank would consider his loan applications stupid and the investors(even Indian) wouldn't know his language.

The problem with English medium education is that only a minuscule percentage. Only 27.8% of the population lives in 5500 urban towns/cities. Even in the most optimistic estimates only 12-15% would live in the 300 biggest urban centers.


So only 5-7% of the population can afford education in private schools or Pratibha Vikas Schools or Kendriya Vidyalayas.

English education given in vernacular medium government schools across the nation is substandard. Hence the vast majority of our educational institutions produce vernacular-speaking manpower fit only for blue collar jobs.

This English speaking population then runs the majority of our enterprises. This population forms the majority of people who can even dream about entrepreneurship. No wonder the country has to import jobs from foreign entrepreneurs.

Social equality starts with equal educational opportunities. English education for all is NOT the solution. Its impractical to find English speaking teachers for the entire nation's students.

The second social model is Japan or any of the European/American nations, everyone is taught in the same language. The local language. A man with modest education but the right attitude can climb up the entrepreneurial ladder. The judgement of a person's intellect is not based on his/her language skills but his intellect.

The divide between the rich and poor. The inability of the poor to uplift themselves despite the presence of great opportunities. The ineffectiveness of the "trickle down effect " can never be addressed unless an average Indian is allowed to work, study, fall in love, judged and allowed to look for opportunities in his mother tongue.


The Vernacular Language.