Spirit of Ekushey
It was good to read, over Ekushey, the number of articles promoting more respect for Bangla and expressing dislike for the various ways in which it is being corrupted. This battle has to continue in all our schools!
I have heard some people talk as though English-medium schools are all part of some 'foreign' conspiracy against all things Bengali, including disloyalty to the language. What nonsense is this? On the contrary, in the ones I have been associated with, Bengali is a 'core' subject and no pupil can get promotion to the next class unless he or she has proved their competence in the syllabus for the past year.
Of course, there are some Bangladeshi children who have returned from years living abroad and who speak Bangla quite well but their reading and writing leaves a lot to be desired. They tend to roll their eyes and plead for mercy but, in most of such schools, surely do not get it! Our school, for instance, offers them Easy Bangla classes for a maximum of 2 years and then they have to join the mainstream. We actively discourage our students from speaking the mixture of English and Bangla that is the current fashion in many circles at the moment, for which the English-medium schools can certainly not be blamed. Learning good Bengali and good English is not an either/or but a both/and in any school worthy of its place in this nation whether Bengali-medium or English-medium.
As for the Bengali culture, Ekushey is just one of many significant anniversaries that is celebrated appropriately each year by many if not most English-medium schools. I have heard teachers from some Bengali-medium schools saying that they wish they did as much for Bengali culture as we do!
No one who saw the stunning performance of 'Chandalika' for the Silver Jubilee celebrations of BIT could possibly question the enormous enthusiasm and devotion of this school to Bengali music and dance.
So what's the problem?
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