Regional Languages or English: Which Medium is Better for Kids?

As the new born infant grows to become kid, the parents are required to take very important decision i.e. "Whether the kid should be admitted in English Medium School or Gujarati Medium (Any Regional language for that matter)".

Jay's Parents faced the same dilemma when they had to take this decision for their child. As Jay's Cousins were admitted in English Medium School, Jay's parents wanted their child to study in English Medium School. Today Jay is in 10th standard. Till date He never got more than 50% marks. While his cousins never got below 80%. Well I completely agree with the view that today, Individual's talent are attitude are more important than marks he gets in exams. The Problem is not that Jay could not get more than 50%. The Problem is not that he always stood behind in studies compared to his cousins. The real problem is that he never grew as he should have grown. In school, he could not understand half the things whatever taught to him. Not because he was dumb. It is because he was not able to catch up with the English language. At home, everyone was used to speak in Gujarati only and Jay never got the environment which can help him learn and speak English. Seeing the situation of Jay, Some well wishers of the family advised the parents to take the child out of English medium school and admit him in Gujarati medium school when he was in 4th standard. But Parents made this a Prestige issue and didn't follow the advices given to them. Now the victim is the child. He lost his complete confidence. He does not socialize much. He is still wondering why he is not at par with his batch mates and all. He has failed twice. Today he is really worried that he won’t be able to clear board exams and his career will come to an end. As English has become regular part of Business communication and social communication, there was nothing wrong that Jay's Parents wished to have their child to be competent in English. But they took wrong decisions.

The first wrong decision was to admit the child in English Medium School knowing that no one at home knew even the Basic English. They could have got admitted the child in Gujarati Medium School and the child could have studied English as a subject. Later on He could have done his Graduation and Post Graduation in English Medium. Just the way I did. I did my schooling in Gujarati Medium and BBA and MBA in English Medium. Today, I am reasonably good at English. The good thing happened to me is that I did schooling in Gujarati Language (Mother Tongue).

The second wrong decision of Jay's parents was to not to shift the child in Gujarati medium even after realizing that their child is not able to catch up. Their ego was more important than the child's future.

English is just a language. There is no reason to feel inferior just because you are poor in English. English is an easy language to learn. You need not know all the words in the dictionary. You need not know CAT Level English. You can learn the Basic English so that you can communicate with someone who does not know your mother tongue. In the end what matters are attitude and aptitude and not your proficiency in particular language.

Yogesh Ramani 

 www.scholarsacademia.blogspot.in