Edu Conclave 2023: Vernacular language should not be destroyed, says minister

Kolkata: Vernacular should not be destroyed, stressed State Education minister Bratya Basu on Saturday while speaking at the Annual Education Conclave 2023 conducted by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Basu explained that he has no problem with the use of Hindi and English but raised concerns over the imposition of the language over vernacular.

“This was always in their agenda–Hindi, Hindu and Hindustan. They have been gradually trying to destroy the vernacular languages. English and Hindi can remain but vernacular languages should not be destroyed,” Basu said.

His biggest worry is that the coming generation may lose touch with their roots. Basu urged the chamber as well as the audience to ensure that the future generation do not come to a point where they are unable to read or understand their mother tongue.

The state had plans to appeal to the Centre for granting classical language status to Bengali. The application for the same was supposed to be forwarded by the Institute of Language Studies and Research (ILSR). While speaking with the media on the sidelines, Basu said that work on the same is going on and a discussion has taken place with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The theme for the sixth edition of the Annual Education Conclave 2023, Education Milieu, was the future of education. Satyam Roy Chowdhury, Chancellor of Sister Nivedita University and chairperson of the Education Committee, BCCI, said: “Our aim is to lay a solid foundation for an inclusive, adaptable and future-ready education system in Bengal. Public-private partnership (PPP), industry-academic collaborations and international partnership are the need of the hour.” He also stressed that technological advancements as well as the inclusion of new subjects like Robotics and Artificial Intelligence are progressing the education sector.

Through Internet education there exists a disparity, but according to Roy Chowdhury the state government is working towards reducing this disparity and encouraging inclusion.

“Our aim is to deliver this technology and adaptability to rural areas. These types of chambers and educators are trying to reach such institutions or villages or remote areas where technology has not reached,” he said.