CHICAGO: Indian Americans in Texas and across USA have expressed joy and happiness that a school in Texas has introduced teaching of Hindi language in its curriculum. They have expressed the hope that this will serve as a model and example for many other schools in the country to follow.
Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District (HEBISD) headquartered in Bedford (Texas, USA) is introducing Hindi, official language of India, for its students. Seventh, eighth and ninth graders will be in a position to take Hindi classes. These courses are part of the district’s International Business Initiative, which will set students on a course to success in college and in the workforce, HEBISD states.
Welcoming the news, Nand Kapoor a former president of Association of Indian Americans, said that the next step should be to offer other languages of India like Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, etc to the aspiring students. This would improve their understanding to the multi cultural and multi-linguist Indian society.
Rajan Zed, the Chairperson of Indo-American Leadership Confederation, commended HEBISD for offering Hindi and observed that besides learning the rich languages and culture of India, it would also make a good business sense to open-up American children to India which is on track to becoming a global power. Moreover, USA being a culturally diverse society, introducing languages of India would bring more cohesiveness and harmony in the communities. In addition, American children of India-descent would be able to keep their languages, traditions and culture alive and intact, Rajan added.
Congratulatiing the HEBISD school management on its bold move, Gurbachan Kaur Neelam, president of newly set up Hindi Lovers Club in Chicago, observed that “this could be just the beginning. Once students and parents see the advantages of knowing Hindi abroad and in India, other schools in different States will be induced to teach Hindi in their schools. It’s really a proud moment for all of us at Hindi Lovers Club of Illinois.”
Ms Sudakash Kapoor, a front ranking member of Hindi Lovers Club, said that language is the soul of one’s cultural identity and sometimes it is sad that many in India are rushing to get their children learn English at the expense of Hindi or other Indian language. “The report that a school in Texas has taken initiative to teach Hindi to its students should be an eye opener for many not only in this country but also in India,” she said.
The district website states that “Today, China and India are powerful players in the global economy…Students in HEBISD can get competitive advantage by enrolling in Hindi or Mandarin Chinese classes.” It lists Hindi among languages “essential to success in a global marketplace”.
Hindustani is reportedly the fourth highly spoken language in the world after Chinese, Spanish and English and has more speakers than Arabic, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, German, French, Italian, Dutch, etc.
HEBISD, a K-12 public school district founded in 1958, has about 21 thousand students in its 26 schools spread in seven cities. It has sister schools in China and India. Its pupils reportedly speak 72 languages, and about 51% of its students are economically disadvantaged.
Faye Beaulieu and Ellen Jones are President and Vice President respectively of HEBISD Board of Trustees while Dr. Gene Buinger is the Superintendent.
Suri Swamy
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