Bihar schools to teach Maithili, Bhojpuri, Magahi and other regional languages from 2027

The Bihar government has decided to introduce one regional language, such as Maithili, Bhojpuri and Bajjika, for students of classes 1 and 2 in all state-run schools from the next academic session, a minister said on Tuesday. Bihar Education Minister Mithlesh Tiwary said the decision has been taken as part of the government's efforts to promote education based on mother tongue at the primary level under the provisions of the National Education Policy (NEP), The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has been authorised to prepare the textbooks in Bhojpuri, Magahi, Surjapuri, Bajjika, Maithili and Angika, the minister said.

Talking to PTI, Tiwary said, "The decision to introduce one regional language for students of classes 1 and 2 has been taken under the provisions of the NEP." The NEP emphasises the promotion of regional languages to improve conceptual understanding and preserve India's linguistic diversity, he said.

The policy recommends that the medium of instruction in schools should be the home language, mother tongue, local or regional language up to at least class 5, the minister said. This one regional language arrangement will also be introduced later for students of classes 3 to 5, he said. "The textbooks in these regional languages will be developed for classes 3 to 5," he added.

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Reacting to the government's decision, SCERT Director Yatendra Kumar Pal told PTI, "We are developing textbooks in the six regional languages for classes 1 and 2. The textbooks are being prepared in consultation with teachers and experts of these languages. This will be introduced from the next academic session." Jainendra Kumar Dost, a lecturer at SCERT, who is coordinating workshops for finalising the contents of the books in these regional languages, said the council recently organised a workshop and will hold two more such programmes in the future.

"The objective of the government's decision is to provide learners opportunities to acquire knowledge through regional languages, in accordance with the recommendations of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2023, in the light of the NEP- 2020," he said. This will also strengthen the most fundamental link in the practical efforts toward the preservation and promotion of regional languages, Dost said. "Learners will have opportunities to converse in their local languages, enabling them to adopt the school's culture more easily and naturally," he said. Besides, they will get opportunities to connect with their local culture, festivals, fairs, occupations, agriculture and farming, which will enhance their self-confidence, he added.