Amidst the raging controversy surrounding regional langauge in Maharashtra and Karnataka, Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has shared his views on the issue, reigniting the national debate on the choice of language. Vembu advocated for a ‘regional language first’ approach in India’s education system, replacing English as the choice of language. In a controversial post on X, Vembu India’s overdependence on English is a result of the the colonial legacy and that the language is responsible for creating a gap between urban elites and rural youth.
“The solution ‘government schools offer English medium to everyone’ does not work and has never worked. Instead I propose that all our children – rich and poor – must be educated in our own languages as it happens in countries big and small and as it happens in all of the nations of EU,” Sridhar Vembu said in a tweet.
By now, I hope it is clear to all of India's educated elite that we must build up our capabilities here. The mindset "we can buy whatever we lack" or its much deeper axiomatic version "money can buy everything" won't work in this new era. For one, money cannot buy national…
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) August 3, 2025
Vembu pointed to nations like the Netherlands as example:
In his post, Vembu pointed to nations like the Netherlands as examples where local languages take precedence in education, even though these countries maintain a strong international footprint.
“Yes that means that every kid in Bengaluru must study in Kannada (not just learn Kannada!) and in Chennai must study in Tamil. Countries like the Netherlands with a quarter of the population of Tamil Nadu make it mandatory to learn in Dutch only after a year of enrolling in school there. Children do learn quickly,” Sridhar Vembu noted.
Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu calls English obsession a modern class divider:
Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu emphasized that India’s fixation on English has evolved into a contemporary class divide—arguably more damaging than caste—for young people in rural and semi-urban regions.
“So before you react emotionally to my suggestion “how dare you suggest my English fluent children study in Tamil or Kannada medium” ask yourself if that has served our nation well. Are we bringing up our children to have no pride or attachment towards India, particularly the vast majority of our people who do not speak English? Are we not alienating our own children from our roots,” he mentioned.
He also pointed out that Zoho’s non-Tamil staff members who relocate to Tamil Nadu naturally pick up the Tamil language, enabling smoother teamwork and better communication within the local environment.
