NEW DELHI: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday called for imparting education in the mother tongue up to primary school.
“It is a fallacy to think that progress could be achieved only if education is pursued in English. Research has shown that those who are proficient in their mother tongue can learn other languages with equal ease,” he said inaugurating an online webinar on “Knowledge Creation: Mother Tongue” organised by the Department of Telugu, University of Hyderabad and the Telugu Academy.
Speaking on the need to protect and promote various Indian languages through the use of mother tongue in different fields from education to administration, Mr Naidu observed that language was the lifeline of a civilisation and “denotes the identity, culture and traditions of the people. It plays an important role in preserving music, dance, customs, festivals, traditional knowledge and heritage.”
For instance, he said, about 90 per cent of the Nobel Laureates (barring Nobel Peace prize recipients) up to 2017 were those who completed their education in their respective mother tongues.
Similarly, another survey of countries impacted greatly by globalisation showed that nations which accorded importance to mother tongue were among the top 50.
Mr Naidu said it was also not correct to think that modern research could be conducted only if one was proficient in English. It should be noted that about 90 per cent of the top 40-50 countries in the Global Innovation Index are those in which education was imparted in their respective mother tongues.
Pointing out that many visiting foreign VIPs, despite knowing English, speak in their mother tongue during their discussions with top Indian dignitaries, the Vice President said that by doing so they were conveying a message of self-respect.
Expressing the need to develop the mother tongues to meet modern needs, the Vice President said that complex scientific and technical terms should be simplified in Indian languages.
He asked the teachers and parents to encourage their children to speak in mother tongue at home and elsewhere, saying it should become the lingua franca for all educational, socio-economic and other activities.
Mr Naidu also wanted the media to promote the widespread use of native languages.
University of Hyderabad Vice Chancellor P Appa Rao, DRDO Chairman Dr Satish Reddy, Prof Aruna Kumari, Head of the Telugu Department, University of Hyderabad, Shanta Biotech Chairman K L Varaprasad Reddy, Telugu Academy Director A Satyanarayana Reddy and Telangana State Official Language Commission Chairman Devulapalli Prabhakar Rao were among the dignitaries who took part in the online webinar, an official release here said. (AGENCIES)
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