AKTU to teach BTech first-year in Hindi, AICTE to introduce books: Report

NEW DELHI: Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU) will start teaching BTech first year students in Hindi medium in addition to English. Engineering textbooks will be made available in Hindi for the BTech 1st year students from this academic year, the Hindustan Times reported.

The decision was taken for the convenience of students who studied in Hindi medium. “The books are being prepared by AICTE (All India Council of Technical Education) on several subjects for the first-year students. Special training is also being given by AKTU to teachers to teach through Hindi medium too,” AKTU vice chancellor PK Mishra told HT. The teachers will explain concepts in Hindi even if they taught the technical terminology in English, he added.

In July 2022, the AICTE began a massive mission to make technical courses available in non-English languages. In alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, AICTE said it aims to make engineering accessible to speakers of all major indigenous languages. The regulatory body has earmarked a budget of Rs 18.6 crore for developing the second-year course material in English and its translation into 12 Indian languages.

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BTech in Hindi

In 2010, Anna University introduced BTech courses in Tamil-medium, largely to cater to students who have completed their school education in Tamil. But a decade later, the programmes themselves stagnated with no new course being added to the original two – mechanical and civil engineering.

Though the AICTE approved institutions to offer engineering degrees in eight regional languages - Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Gujarati, Malayalam and Bengali in May 2022. Anna University academics said that the low enrolment might be due to the students’ own lack of confidence, and the necessity of English as a global language.

On the other hand, Hindi textbooks for MBBS students have drawn mixed reactions from academicians, experts and students. While some termed it as a 'stepping stone', other called it a “lingustic politics”. In a pilot project, the Madhya Pradesh government announced plans to teach MBBS in Hindi from this academic session 2022-23.

Also read | Engineering: 60% seats vacant, BTech in regional languages see a slow start

The Hindi imposition debate erupted once again after the Parliamentary Panel recommended that the medium of instruction in all institutes including IITs, IIMs, central universities and Kendriya Vidyalayas in Hindi-speaking states should be Hindi.

Tamil Nadu Assembly recently adopted a resolution against Hindi imposition. The state chief minister MK Stalin also said how the imposition of Hindi will alienate non-Hindi speaking students.