Relegated as ‘optional subject’, German language teaching takes a beating

The number of students studying German in Kendriya Vidyalayas has dropped from 80,000 in 2018 to 18,000 in 2021. (Representational image: Shutterstock)

In Quora, a US-based question-and-answer social website, a German-speaking Indian delves into the advantages of knowing a foreign language.

“There is a growing demand in the market for students with a working knowledge of German…Germany is home to numerous international corporations like Daimler Chrysler, Siemens, Bosch, and SAP. German companies are among the world's largest exporters. You can explore jobs in Corporate world (especially MNCs) that look for people in India who know and understand their language…” writes Maharashtra-based Mandar Palsokar.

As an advertisement for the German language in a country where English is pretty much the lingua franca, such a post should be enough to grab attention, particularly of the 100-million-plus-strong upwardly mobile young people for whom the knowledge of a foreign language would considerably enhance avenues, both in India and abroad.

For policymakers in India, however, that is a moot point. Take the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS). From a total of 80,000 students studying German in Kendriya Vidyalayas, or Central Schools, in 2018, the numbers have plummeted to 18,000 in 2021.

Demoting German

The Sangathan’s decision in 2019 to teach German only outside school hours has led to a sharp drop in enrolment. Close to 270 teachers have been rendered jobless—from 350 teachers in 2018, the number is down to about 70 now.

This drastic fall is attributed to German being offered as a “hobby subject”, or as an optional subject, to students of classes 6, 7, and 8. In some KVs, secondary and senior secondary students, too, can learn the language.

The demotion of German is by no means new. In 2014, the then Union Minister for Education, Smriti Irani, replaced German with Sanskrit as the third language mid-session at KVs.

On March 29, 2019, the Sangathan issued a circular ordering its schools to teach additional languages outside school hours to allocate more time to work and art education. To get students to stay after school hours to study an optional language, where marks are not going to be calculated, is asking for the moon.

And it is evident in the results.

The Indian Express, quoting sources said that the German embassy had written at least two letters to the Ministry of Education, requesting that KVs teach the language during regular school hours.

A German embassy spokesperson acknowledged a “rapid decline” in the number of KV students opting to study German since the 2019 circular.

The embassy told the paper that it has been “working closely” with the KVS and the Ministry of Education “to find out a constructive solution in accordance with the New Education Policy, NEP 2020 and CBSE guidelines that benefit the students to achieve their goals and meet their incessant desire to learn German, being the most used language in Europe right after English”.

Naukri.com, one of India’s top job portals, and some of its peers regularly advertise vacancies for German-speaking experts in the country’s booming IT industry, most notably in Bengaluru, Gurugram and Noida.

A useful language  

German, as a subject, was first introduced in KVs in 2009, with New Delhi-based Max Mueller Bhavan and the German government providing academic support. For ambitious students looking for opportunities in the country and beyond, this was the ideal call. Now, it is back to square one.

“The teaching of Sanskrit is part of the BJP’s Project Jingoism. Sanskrit was the language of a tiny elite and offers no opportunities for students to make a career in this modern age, unlike German. Why force such a project down students’ throats in place of German, which is like English, a useful foreign language,” says Ish Mishra, a former professor at Delhi University’s Hindu College.

Mishra himself has been a Sanskrit and German language student.

Ironically, the controversy has come at a time when Germany has emerged as a popular destination for higher education among Indian students.

In 2019-20, according to the Federal Statistical Office of Germany, there were nearly 25,000 Indian students enrolled at German universities, making them the second-largest group of international students in the country after the Chinese.

A Ministry of Education official told Moneycontrol on conditions of anonymity, that they had reworked the timetable to follow CBSE guidelines, which make at least one period of physical education mandatory.

He said that additional language periods carved out of the time meant for work and art education were restored to the respective subjects to conform with the spirit of the National Curriculum Framework.

The official was quick to point out that if 15 or more students in a school opt to study an additional language, they can do so beyond school hours, a condition that is hardly likely to enthuse either parents or students.

The 2014 move to replace German with Sanskrit had triggered a minor diplomatic row with German Chancellor Angela Merkel raising the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The government had then justified the move saying that offering a foreign language as a third language subject is a violation of the three-language policy enshrined in the National Education Policy of 1986.

Its decision was upheld by the Supreme Court. In 2015, the KVs reintroduced German as a hobby subject or additional language.