The Ever-Changing Status of English in Government-Run Schools of West Bengal: Ideology, Policyand Praxis (1983-2004).
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Date
2014-11
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Abstract
A rich tradition of English education was founded in West Bengal for historical reasons. But the Left Front Government upset it
during their thirty-four years rule. The two decades of Left rule, from 1983 to 2004, witnessed four changes in the scenario of
teaching English at school at irregular intervals without proper justification. English education has remained a contested terrain of
hegemonies and counter hegemonies since its inception during the colonial period, after Independence in entire India and in Leftruled
West Bengal too. Despite of its pro-proletariat ideology, the Left Front Government did a volte-face when it reintroduced
English in the Primary stage after initially abolishing it from there. They even failed to produce any revolutionary ideal in the
English textbooks. Globalization, ideological confusions and imperatives of realpolitik are chiefly responsible for the
indecisiveness of the Left vis-à-vis English education policies.
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Keywords
Colonization, English Education, Left Front, Hegemony, Ideology, Realpolitik, Economic Liberalization
Citation
Chattopadhyay Tamoghna. The Ever-Changing Status of English in Government-Run Schools of West Bengal: Ideology, Policyand Praxis (1983-2004). International Journal of Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Studies. 2014: Nov; 2(1) 131-138.