The Vernacular Medium

COMMENTING upon the resolution which has been recently passed by the Senate of the Calcutta University, to the effect that for Matriculation “instruction and examination in all subjects other than English medium shall be conducted in the vernacular,” certain Anglo-Indian journals have expressed the confident opinion that the innovation will have a far-reaching effect in lowering not only the standard of the Calcutta degree but also the standard of English education in Bengal. Strongly as we believe in English literature and history, we do not share this sort of apprehension at all. The critics seem to overlook two important facts regarding the issue. One is the extent to which Bengali has been developed as a language. Anyone who is conversant with the fact knows that it is now quite possible to make Bengali both the medium of instruction and of examination without any drop in the efficiency of either. The second and equally important fact is that once the student is relieved of the necessity of learning every subject through the medium of a foreign language, here English — a process which certainly imposes a heavy strain and academic burden upon the intellect as well as the memory of the average boy — he will be able to devote more time and attention to the study of English itself, both as a language and literature, than he can possibly do in the given circumstances. This last is a view which is widely held among the really competent and experienced teachers, who, on this very ground, have again urged the adoption of the vernacular medium to the fullest extent possible.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.