Equal rights for a Quality education!
Where English is considered a class, not a language!
Hailing from a south Asian country yes it is valuable to be able to converse in English. Knowing the language does open up opportunities for a bright future. Having said that don’t let it define the quality of you or your life. For most South Asian parents wealthy or poor, the curriculum being taught in English has become a key factor in deciding which school to enrol their child to. Parents would go to any extreme to send their child to such a school.
Despite the fact that every child has a right to equal education, the system is such that the process of registering a child involves low and middle income earning parents opting for private or international schools, waiting in queues at all odd hours just to get an application form to hiring consultants to groom the child to face the interview. I mean I didn’t even know such a profession existed! (also did I mention paying a hefty amount as admission fees? Yep that too!)
It is absurd!
The movie Hindi Medium is a classic example of how parents would do anything to send their child to a school they think is suitable.
Economic and social disparities play around even when it comes to children’s education where the rich will by any means get their way while the poor are left with the last bite of the apple.
I cannot emphasise on this point enough.
English is not a class. Merely a language.
Why is that people feel ashamed if they cannot speak in English but pretend to fail miserably when speaking their own mother tongue?
The real shame is not being able to speak in your mother language after being born and bred for years as a native of your country!
Good values, quality of studies, personal development are all less important factors to most educated parents who are deluded to think knowing English will miraculously make you a better human being with quality education, a good job and a comfortable happy life.
For them it is the elite society that speaks in English and have prosperous lives. Educating their child in English equals the child entering the higher social strata of life.
Not to mention the elite are educated in private schools hence the misconception that private schooling equals prestige.
The film Hindi Medium revolves around a middle class business oriented family where the parents take extreme measures to send their child to an English medium private school simply because they wish to give their daughter the best quality of life without any hardships; something which they themselves did not have.
This is understandable because every parent wants only the best for their children. They want their child to grow up well and be accepted in society and to have more educational and life opportunities and finally a wonderful family of their own.
But in this film, the move that the parents take; can it be justified? You tell me! Because this is not simply a movie to laugh at those parents theatricals. No. this could well be reality in some parts of the world where social prejudice exists.
Here’s what happens: When their daughter’s admission gets rejected (even after the grooming session) it leaves them with no option but to enter the school via the underprivileged children’s quota. (Having failing at political influence and bribery of course)
The school carries out a background check of each family because parents do attempt to register ‘privileged’ children via the quota system, snatching away the chance given to the less fortunate resulting in this family having to live in pretence poverty for a month in a slum area.
Long story short, the selection of kids entering through the quota are randomly picked and the rich kid manages to get into the prestigious private school while the poor one is rejected and has to accept his fate and enrol in the rundown government school.
What happens next…well you can watch the movie for that =)
Some public schools do exist where children are given better education than private establishments. However more than equal education rights it is more of a matter of every child’s right to ‘quality education’. The system and culture should change so that a child’s education isn’t based on the language the subjects are taught in. All schools should be alike with good quality education and personal development for any child rich or poor!
Why is not possible for both government and private schools to have equal acknowledgement from society?
Why doesn’t more investment take place to upgrade rundown schools in the suburbs and to provide better facilities?
If people looked at this issue in an egotistic mind-set and ignored it, there will be no end to social and cultural bigotry. Because it all starts at school. A child learns and adapts to what a child sees and hears which is why ‘high class’ school children scorn upon children taught in village schools. It is why bullying still exists. It is a reason why under-privileged students remain under-privileged even though the country is considered a developed one. It keeps going on in circles as the fortunate children take life for granted, end up in high job positions and show attitude to the inferior employees.
So take a step back…and think hard. Is this the future you want for your child?
