Many Gujarati medium schools shutting down

It's a mirror of the times we live in. Parents' preference in sending their wards to English medium schools has resulted in the closure of yet another Gujarati medium school in the city. Sadhana School in Paldi, running since 1934, shut Gujarat medium in classes 6, 7 and 8 after it failed to receive 20 students, the minimum needed to run a class. Closure of classes 9 and 10 is imminent at the school if it fails to get the required number of students by July, the principal said.
Around 25 Gujarati medium schools in the city have shut shop in the past three years for lack of students.With global exposure making English the preferred language of communication and business, more and more parents are preferring to send their wards to English medium schools. It comes as no surprise as parents believe that children studying in English medium have better opportunities in higher education and can make wider career choices.
DIFFICULT TIMES
In 2013, five Gujarati medium schools closed down, 8 in 2014 and 10 in 2015 in the city. With students studying in Gujarati medium changing to English medium, more and more schools are facing a crunch. The DEO has predicted that all Gujarati medium schools will close down within a span of 15 to 20 years as students become more competitive and focused. Sadhana has been added to the list of good schools that have closed over the years, which include Sarvamangal High School in Vadaj, Gayatri Vidayalaya in Kubernagar, Navin Balodhyan High School in Chandlodia, DS Patel Girls High School in Ranip and Pallavi Vidyalaya in Asarwa.
According to Pranav Mistry, principal and trustee of Sadhana School, "We don't even have atotal of 30 students in class 6, 7, 8, which is the main reason for closing all three sections. We get requests from students wanting to change their mode of instruction to English. All the national level examinations now have a separate section to assess English, so Gujarati medium students face difficulty in cracking the examination.
NEET (National Eligibility Entrance Test for medical courses) is a recent case in point." Vidyanagar High School that still runs Gujarati medium classes from classes 5 to 12 is having a rethink. School Principal Akshay Mehta said, "We ourselves think many a time what we should do to ensure that that our students are not left behind globally. Most of the students studied for GUJCET but the implementation of NEET has put paid to their efforts. Also English gives more global exposure and opportunity to the students cannot be overlooked."
Principal of C N Vidyalaya that runs Gujarati medium classes from 1to 12 too speaks highly of English. According to Principal Hiten Trivedi, "English is not only an international language but also nationally known. Government should initiate programmes that focus in finding solutions to the problems Gujarati medium students face while appearing in national level examination like NEET."
A STATUS SYMBOL
English has become a status symbol especially among the middle class as they want to match the status of the people who already know the language, believes Sociologist Ghanshyam Shah. "It is societal pressure among parents and children to study in an English medium school rather than a Gujarati medium school. Also, as the language gives more job opportunities to freshers as English is the prime demand in industries, youngsters prefer it," Shah said. The sociologist believes that things will change if the state government's attitude changes as it does not matter whether students know Gujarati or English.
"We should take appropriate measures and promote the language," he said. Another sociologist, DrGaurang Jani, believes the race started in Mumbai and has caught up in Gujarat. "Twenty years ago it started, when the city had many Gujarati medium schools, but slowly with the economic upturn, quality education and global exposure, these schools have been closed down. Gujarati language has always been associated with conservative, while English has been considered modern. Young parents who didn't get an English education, mostly prefer to give the same to their children."
Like every year the district education officer will be conducting cultural programmes for students, but he sees little hope it will change the trend. "English offers more opportunities in terms of job and higher education, so we too cannot force them. We would definitely prefer students studying in Gujarati medium as it is the language of the state but we cannot force anyone. If this situation prevails, within a span of 15 to 20 years all the Gujarati medium schools in city will close down," said DEO AK Rathod.