Globalisation and the Cultural Politics of Educational Change: The Controversy over Teaching of English in West Bengal

ISSN： 0020-8566

Source： International Review of Education / Internationale Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft / Revue internationale de l'éducation, Vol.48, Iss.5, 2002-09, pp. : 361-375

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Abstract

(Globalisation and the Cultural Politics of Educational Change: The Controversy over the Teaching of English in West Bengal) – This article deals with the articulation of educational policy, cultural politics, and social class in the era of globalization. It analyses the policy of the Government of West Bengal to remove the teaching of English from the primary school syllabus in the state in the early 1980s and its subsequent reintroduction from the beginning of the school year in 2000. The author argues that English is a crucial component of the middle classes' cultural capital and is essential to their future employment success, especially in a globalising work environment. This is supported by interviews conducted during 1998/1999 with middle-class Bengalis. For governments of postcolonial, developing societies, this dispute highlights an essential dichotomy between, on the one hand, the ideal of broad-based educational policies and, on the other hand, the need to prepare children for employment at home and abroad in the context of globalisation.