Study Material In Educational Institutes In Regional Languages In Next 3 Years
As per the government’s direction, all major higher educational institutes (HEIs) and schools will have to make provisions to make learning material available regional Indian languages. The directive was issued for regulators such as UGC, AICTE, NCERT, NIOS, IGNOU and heads of major educational institutions like IITs, NITs, and central universities. In the next 3 years, study material has to be made available in Indian languages for all the courses. Under the centre’s directive, textbooks of school and higher education will be printed in the regional languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
This move is in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which advises all educational institutions to offer study materials in vernacular languages in order to give everyone access to learning opportunities. The NEP 2020 states that learning in one”s mother tongue can give students a natural space by removing any barriers to creative thought caused by language.
The government has also developed the eKumbh platform to upload the translated course books in order to enhance studying in regional languages. Books on law, medicine, engineering, skill- course material and other undergraduate and postgraduate have been uploaded on the portal. Additionally, DIKSHA portal has also been utilised to provide school study material in more than 30 different regional languages.
As per the education ministry, the content creation in local languages will boost the multilingual assets and strengthen the socio-cultural, economic and educational development of the nation. This will pave way for a ‘Viksit Bharat’ to make the country as developed nation by 2047.
Government is also promoting educational inclusion by conducting major entrance examination such as JEE, NEET and CUET, in regional languages.
The Constitutional provisions to languages are made in the Eighth Schedule under the article 344(1) and 351.
The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution consists of the following 22 languages:- (1) Assamese, (2) Bengali, (3) Gujarati, (4) Hindi, (5) Kannada, (6) Kashmiri, (7) Konkani, (8) Malayalam, (9) Manipuri, (10) Marathi, (11) Nepali, (12) Oriya, (13) Punjabi, (14) Sanskrit, (15) Sindhi, (16) Tamil, (17) Telugu, (18) Urdu (19) Bodo, (20) Santhali, (21) Maithili and (22) Dogri.
Among these languages, 14 were originally present in the Constitution. Sindhi was added in 1967. Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali were added in 1992. Subsequently Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali were added in 2004.
