Abolishing English in schools: implications for higher education in West Bengal

Abstract       

In 1982, the then ruling Left Front government in West Bengal (India) abolished the teaching of English from its primary faculties. The move light-emitting diode to a high-pitched contention over the social importance of teaching English, and once and the way it ought to be instructed. the most arguments in favor of the choice were to confront the political theory inherent in giving importance to a “foreign” language and to push higher entering and scale back drop-out rates. Those hostile the choice spoke of redrawing category maps and therefore the difficulties of negotiating a nation of the many languages with fluency in barely one regional language. Over the years, there have been a lot of advanced arguments; furthermore, demand for English among the agricultural poor light-emitting diode to a larger demand personal|for personal} faculties or private tuition. The conclusion of English was in the midst of major interventions in Bangla language-teaching, that were additionally heatedly debated among the academy. Twenty-five years later, in 2007, a new-look Left Front government wanted to reverse the choice and re-introduce English into primary faculties. There was opposition among the govt. from those that had been votaries of the previous call. The reversal was supported by

the government, however, despite vocal protests. This paper revisits a number of arguments attending this policy flip-flop. It argues that these arguments have wider significance for language policy in pedagogy in West Bengal which they additionally resonate in different contexts with sturdy traditions in regional languages.