AP HC quashes order converting government schools to English medium

In a decision by the division bench led by Chief Justice JK Maheshwari, the Andhra Pradesh High Court quashed the Government Orders seeking to make English as the compulsory medium of instruction at a primary level.

The bench was of the opinion that the Government Order would violate Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution, which confers the rights upon linguistic minority institutions to impart education in their minority languages.

The bench was of the view that it is the student’s fundamental right to choose their medium of instruction for school education, especially at the primary level. The Bench had the perspective that an educated citizen would prove to be an asset to the nation, but it would require for them to have the capability of expressing themselves in whatever language of their preference, which is an essential to the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a).

The Supreme Court, in the case of State of Karnataka v. Associated Management of English Medium Primary & Secondary Schools, ((2014) 9 SCC 485) held that:

“we are of the view that the right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution includes the freedom of a child to be educated at the primary stage of school in a language of the choice of the child and the State cannot impose controls on such choice just because it thinks that it will be more beneficial for the child if he is taught in the primary stage of school in his mother tongue. We, therefore, hold that a child or on his behalf his parent or guardian, has a right to freedom of choice with regard to the medium of instruction in which he would like to be educated at the primary stage in school.”

This is a good example of how our courts can sometimes make broad statements without figuring out the implications of their statements. Since the Supreme Court has encouraged the students to make a choice of language out of the listed languages in Schedule VIII, they must acknowledge the chaos that can ensue because of the same. Students from the same school may demand for education in different languages, which would just create an influx of languages.

It is also to be noted that Schedule VIII does not include English as a language, which can be considered to be a much more prevalent language, and is used globally.