Hindi in United Kingdom schools

July 27, 2006

To: UK School Boards

Petition to start Hindi in Schools

To the school boards of the United Kingdom:

This petition is to solicit worldwide support to help start Hindi in Middle and High schools as an elective subject.

1. Hindi is the second most spoken language in the world and the national language of India, but hasn't achieved a wider popularity compared to other languages because of our lukewarm approach towards it. Hindi is also a much scientific and advanced language sharing the same devnagiri script as Sanskrit and is fundamentally strong in phonetic and grammar.

2. United Kingdom and India has come more closer in the last decade and economic and cultural collaborations between these 2 countries have also increased. Many jobs from Fortune 200 companies have been outsourced to India and the joint ventures in the field of information technology have virtually bonded these 2 largest democracies in the world. Further human resources and technology exchange are expected to continue for many decades to come. Many travellers and students from UKare visiting India for their internship and higher studies. So, learning Hindi will only help in cementing close bonds these 2 countries are forming.

3. Hindi is also a part of our Indian culture and our kids as well as kids of other cultural background will be better able to know the most ancient culture of the world.

4. Hindi education in Middle and High schools will help bridge missing link between schools and universities. It is difficult to teach primary Hindi alphabets to the University students and because of extreme study pressure they can get 'burned out' and become uninterested in learning Hindi. With a strong Hindi foundation acquired in High school, the student will enjoy learning advanced Hindi in university without any undue pressure.

It is high time that we demand all school boards to offer Hindi as an elective language in their school curriculum.

Hindi will help bring us and our kids closer to India as well as help United Kingdom to better understand and utilize the cultural and economic opportunities in Bharat.