The English Egress

In an ironic piece de resistance by the British education system, it has again been proved that when it comes to acceptance of change, Britons are least welcoming, or so it seems. In what may be deemed as irony of fate, Indians examiners are given the charge of marking British 16-year-old school-leavers in their General Certificate of Secondary Education.

Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA), the UK exam board that conducts school-leaving exams has confirmed that the one-word answers in 360,000 exam papers in eight subjects ranging from Biology to Spanish would be sent to India to be keyed in.

The news, worthy of sensationalizing the British tabloids, has vainly piqued the English modesty. The British media have lashed out criticism against the board, which claimed its decision to be ‘cost-effective.’

Oppositions also flowed in from parents and public who labeled the Indian examiners as markers who “can't read English.” At least, (keeping in mind the Westerners’ smug ignorance about India) they should have known that India has more English–speaking individuals than their counterparts in England. The incident has obtrusively pointed out the repressed racism that is far from being dying out in this little sceptered-isle.

After two-centuries of harrowing rule, the order of things have come full circle for Indians. Once, it was the time when India was raped of its resources to grist the mills of Manchester from where finished materials were exported back to India only to be bought overpriced by Indians. It was also the time, when Indians were being trained (either by choice or by force) to learn the language of the ‘sahibs.’ The effort, seemingly aimed to convenience the British at that time have now added to their consternation.

Although not the English, the English Language, known for all its superlatives, has rewarded India with ‘the envy of the world.’ In the face of brisk outsourcing, India since long has been capitalizing on its English language legacy and low cost. A combination, perfected and proved best is making India a global marketplace for skilled manpower with options unmatched anywhere in the world. The move by the British education board, AQA, in a way makes it further tenable.

The stuck-ups in Britain may dismiss the Indian contribution to their education system, but they cannot escape seeing their progeny being evaluated on their mother tongue by a slew of brown-skinned foreigners. If the past has made us learn English, the future will see rendering it-a ‘Reverse Colonialism?”