Provide study material in Indian languages: Centre directs schools, Higher Education Institutions

NEW DELHI: The centre on Friday directed all schools and higher education institutions (HEIs) to provide study material for every course in Indian languages digitally within the next three years.

The Union Education Ministry said the decision was aimed at providing students with the opportunity to study in their own language.

In an order issued on Friday, the education ministry directed all school and higher education regulators such as the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), National Council of Educational Research and Training, National Institute of Open Schooling, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), and heads of Institutes of National Importance, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institute Of Technology (NITs), and other Central Universities to make study material in Indian languages available for all courses in the next three years.

The move is in continuation with the government’s efforts to promote education in Indian languages in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which envisioned that “steps shall be taken towards developing high-quality higher education institutions both public and private that have medium of instruction in local/Indian languages or bilingually,” the statement said.

UGC, AICTE and the Department of School Education have also been asked to take up the issue with regard to state schools and universities,” it said.

“The above directions emerge from the recommendations of the National Education Policy for promoting multilingualism in education at every level so that students get the opportunity to study in their own language and can have better learning outcomes. Studying in one’s own language can provide a student with the natural space to think innovatively without any language barrier,” it added.

Emphasizing that the NEP 2020 strongly conveys the “idea that the multilingual nature of Bharat is its huge asset and strength, which needs to be utilised efficiently for the socio-cultural, economic and educational development” of the nation, the ministry said, “Content creation in local languages will boost this multilingual asset and pave way for its better contribution to ‘Viksit Bharat’ to make our country a developed nation by 2047.”

The government has already been working in this direction for the past two years, with the translation of Engineering, Medical, Law, Undergraduate, Post Graduate and Skill books being done through the Anuvadini AI-based App.

These books are available on the e-kumbh portal. In the school education ecosystem also, study material is available in multiple Indian languages, including over 30 languages on DIKSHA.

Competitive exams like the Joint Entrance Examination, National Eligibility Entrance Test, and Common University Entrance Test are being held in 13 Indian languages.