Sanskrit won't be a mandatory language to be taught in
schools, said the former chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami in his wide
ranging recommendations. He heads the committee on revival of Sanskrit language.
He said that schools and examination boards should ensure that the language is
taught and made available among those who are interested.
The committee has seven members and was set up by HRD ministry. It is of the view that all Sanskrit Pathsalas and Vedic Schools should be affiliated to some board like Maharishi Sandipani Veda Vidya Pratisthan of Ujjain.
Gopalaswami further added that the committee is against making any languages compulsory. But they recommended a total shift in the pedagogy of Sanskrit. They suggested that grammar teaching method should be done away with and every language is taught in target language so, Sanskrit should also be taught in Sanskrit and teachers should also be made aware.
He said that problem with teaching Sanskrit is that grammar is taught first while in other languages it's not the same. So, while teaching Sanskrit, first stories and more text books should be read to students and then grammar needs to be introduced. He recommended that a vocabulary of common Sanskrit words should be built to simplify language.
The committee is of the view that in order to popularize Sanskrit, textbooks of all subjects like science, mathematics and social science should be in Sanskrit. It will help students to learn Sanskrit and modern subjects especially those who are going to Vedic Schools or Sanskrit Pathsalas. In fact, institutions like National Institute of Open Schooling should conduct examination in Sanskrit.
Committee further recommended that old manuscripts should be available online so that students can go back to their roots. These days it's a trend to go back to nature like producing organic food or use of solar energy so these manuscripts would be useful. Gopalaswami wants the collaboration between modern subjects and Sanskrit as they believe that not everything old is good and not everything new is bad. He gave instances of how front line research on ashwagandha (Indian ginseng) is being funded and how great mathematical mysteries have been unravelled in manuscripts on swara (note) and tala (rhythmic phrase).