BHOPAL: In a first, or should we say ‘pratham’, Madhya Pradesh government has decided to teach engineering in Hindi from the new academic session. So, while students and teachers are scratching their heads to find translations of technical terms like surface tension and osmosis, there just aren’t any tech books in Hindi.
Confirming the development, a senior official said that students will be asked to choose between English and Hindi medium of study during admission to engineering courses. The surprise decision was taken on Tuesday at a meeting at Rajiv Gandhi Proudhyogiki Vishwavidyalaya (RGPV), presided over by the vice-chancellor Kalpana Shrivastava.
Senior educationists have criticized the decision, saying it is a step back and will end up risking the careers of engineering graduates as they will get no benefit of Hindi during job placements. “There is no point in teaching engineering subjects in Hindi when books are available only in English. How do you translate technical terms, any way?” asked a professor.
Technical education minister Deepak Joshi has a solution. “They need not write the translated meaning of technical terms. They can write the English term in Hindi,” he suggested, adding: “The objective is to help students who are weak in English.”
Students wonder if recruiters of big companies will tweak their tests to accommodate someone from MP who has learnt in Hindi. “What will be the future of a student studying engineering in Hindi? Which company will hire students who have Hindi-based engineering degree? These are the issues that should have been answered first before taking such a big decision,” said Vineet Verma, an engineering aspirant. Engineering student Nidhi Sharma said, “Who will teach us in Hindi? Our teachers have studied in English. How and where will one find teachers in Hindi? This is a decision taken without proper research.”
Asking not to be named, a senior teacher of an engineering college said, “Speaking in Hindi with students during a class is a different thing. Teaching a technical subject in Hindi is an entirely different ballgame. Ask any teacher about the meaning of any technical term in Hindi. I bet they won’t have a clue.”
Sources said RGPV hasn’t planned for separate Hindi classes yet. “It is assumed that teachers teach in Hindi,” said a source.
RGPV has decided to provide bilingual question papers. “It will just like MP school board exams. It will help students, who don’t know English very well, understand the questions,” said a senior RGPV official. Even this is futile, said many students. “It is an unnecessary exercise. When books are in English and you have to write answers in English, then what is the point of asking questions in Hindi? Who will write answers in Hindi?” asked one.
