AICTE launches calendar for Engineering Book Discussion in different Indian languages

NEW DELHI: The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) on Tuesday launched a calendar for AICTE’s outcome-based engineering book discussion for undergraduate and diploma level books in different Indian languages.

The Engineering Book Discussion calendar was launched in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020’s vision to make technical education accessible in Indian mother tongues. The first series of discussions kicked off on November 29 and will go on till January 31, 2023.

Part of the first series of discussions will be first-year engineering books in Hindi, Odia and Marathi medium along with second-year engineering books in English medium from the five major disciplines: Mechanical, Electrical, Electronics & Communication, Civil and Computer Science.

In the next phase of book discussion starting from February 2022, the AICTE engineering books in other languages Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati, Malayalam, Urdu and Assamese will be discussed, the AICTE said in a statement.

The programme was started with a welcome address by Amit Kumar Srivastava, director, Faculty Development Cell, AICTE who coordinated the AICTE initiative for the development of engineering books in 12 Indian languages.

Speaking on the occasion UGC chairman Jagadesh Kumar said, “NEP 2022 has guided us that learning has to happen in students’ own languages. If you see the list of top 10 countries which have obtained the largest number of Nobel Prizes, you will see that in each country, kids study from a young age to PhD in their own mother tongues."

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MP Poonia, AICTE vice chairman said: “For years, we have been trying to deepen the understanding and conceptual clarity of the students in technical education. That will happen if we can give them the confidence of learning in their own language. Fear of facing the English language at the higher education level is creating barriers for many students from entering the professional realm. These books will boost access to education, quality of education and employability of our students.”

Engineering Book Discussion

The council said, “Among the first-year books covered in discussions are: Mathematics-I and II, Applied Physics-I, Applied Chemistry, Engineering Graphics, Fundamentals of Electrical and Electronics Engineering and Environmental Science (all diploma level).”

“Nine books at the UG level namely, Chemistry-I, Programming for Problem Solving, Engineering Graphics & Design, Basic Electrical Engineering, Workshop / Manufacturing Practices, Physics (Introduction to Electromagnetic Theory), Physics (Introduction to Mechanics), Mathematics-I – Calculus and Linear Algebra (For Non Computer Science Engineering Branches) & Mathematics-I – Calculus and Linear Algebra (For Computer Science Engineering Branches) will also be part of the online panel discussion,” it said.

In addition to the above, five second-year books will also be part of the discussion series: Python Programming, Information Technology Workshop in Matlab, Fluid Mechanics & Fluid Machines, Digital Electronics and Data Structures Theory & Practicals.

Translation of BTech books

AICTE has initiated a technical book writing scheme in the year 2021-22 to provide study material in Indian languages.

These books have the potential to be utilized in Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Centrally Funded Technical Institute (CFTIs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) and AICTE-approved institutes.

“AICTE is distributing one set of books in Indian languages for the libraries of each Degree and diploma level institution of the state.”

“In 2022-23, AICTE has already initiated the process for the second year’s original book writing in English followed by its translation into 12 Indian languages,” the council informed.