Recently, there has been a public debate around the “Macaulay mindset”. English again has found a central place in India’s education discourse. Some argue that criticising Macaulay’s mindset is nothing but displaying an adversarial stance towards English itself. Others believe that Indians are increasingly using English to communicate with one another nowadays. They support India not shifting away from English-medium schooling to prevent India from isolating itself from modernity. India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, however, presents a more coherent multilingual policy framework.

Cognitive science and comparative policy findings recognise this multilingual approach as socio-culturally grounded, scientifically sound and economically prudent. Let us examine how. UNESCO has often indicated that instruction through the mother tongue is “a key factor for inclusion and quality learning”, especially in the early years. Research findings from RTI International also conclude that the attainment of comprehensive linguistic and cognitive development in a child is possible when the child becomes literate in their mother tongue first.

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Such research findings are in consistent with NEP 2020’s recommendation that “wherever possible” the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, will be the home language/mother tongue or local language. Early education, therefore, should be in the language the child acquires in the home environment and thinks, dreams, and asks questions. It is natural that when a child learns foundational concepts in her own language, her brain does not have to incur additional cognitive load on decoding grammar and can focus more on conceptual understanding. NEP 2020’s model recommends that begin with the home language for foundational learning, gradually add another Indian language, and in later years teach English as a subject. This method aligns with current recommendations in cognitive science. There are empirically measurable cognitive benefits that the bilingual and multilingual brains exhibit.

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Marian, a professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Northwestern University in the USA, and her colleagues have found that, compared to monolinguals, bilingual individuals often exhibit better attention control and task-switching abilities. Additionally, recent studies suggest that multilingualism enhances cognitive flexibility, problem-solving skills, creativity, and social cognition. Will reducing the hegemony of........

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