Hillary favours education in child's mother tongue

Advocates of imparting education in a child's mother tongue found an unlikely supporter in US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who said such a debate is raging in the United States as well.

"The prominent language-medium schools in New York City are Spanish, Chinese, Russian. But there is a debate in which one section says education should be in the children's own language," Clinton, who was a senator from New York state before assuming her present position, said.

But there is a problem in New York City schools as there are not enough bilingual teachers, she said.

Clinton said there is a view that a child should be taught in English before he or she becomes self-conscious about not knowing the global link language.

She was speaking at an interactive discussion on education organised by Teach India, a non-governmental organisation working for children's education. Actor-filmmaker Aamir Khan, who is part of the NGO, shared the dais with Clinton. Khan, however, felt that education is not about languages.

"A child should be taught in the language he and his family is comfortable in, so that he is rooted to his own culture," Khan said.

Speaking about challenges facing the education sector back home, the former US first lady said America has good infrastructure and spends a lot on education. "But we don't get the best returns for the children," she said. "We don't do anything for children who have fallen behind. There are many marginalised groups. There is inequality."

Stressing the need to use modern technology, she said, "There is an opportunity to reach so many people. We need to think creatively. Technical education in India is the best in the world. We need to work together in the field of educational opportunities."

Clinton said the gap between talent and opportunity among children can be bridged through education alone and the onus lies on families, governments, and educational institutions. "I believe family is the first school of a child and parents are the first teachers," she said.

Clinton said she was delighted to meet Aamir Khan and appreciated the actor-filmmaker's views on education. Khan, whose directorial debut, Taare Zameen Par, spoke about inclusive education, said all children should go to regular schools. "I don't have conventional views on education. Top priority should be given to education and teaching. We are still away from a scenario where the top jobs people are vying for are teaching jobs," he said.

Advocating better pay packages for teachers, Khan said the education sector lacks talented professionals as it usually offers low-paid jobs in comparison to other sectors. "At present, there are very few teachers who are genuinely interested in the profession," he said. "Majority are not interested and are not the brightest minds. Teaching should be the highest paid job."

A teacher should encourage a child to question, disagree, challenge, search, and discover, he said. "What we are doing now is how well a child can memorise. Another fact which disturbs me is the emphasis on competition. It could be good if a teacher asks the child whether he is helping out his partner who is weak. There should be a premium on love and care."

Clinton described Khan's views as "excellent points", saying that competition is in the human genes. "But co-operation and collaboration is important among people and countries," she said.

She said the focus should be on helping parents themselves to become good teachers. "Talking continuously to the children is important," she said, "and sadly this practice is not followed in the lower strata of society because life is hard and talking is not part of the daily routine."