Education ministry asks UGC, AICTE, NCERT, IGNOU to provide digital books in Indian languages within 3 years

NEW DELHI: The union government will provide study material of courses under school and higher education in all the Indian languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. The central government has taken the decision to provide students with the opportunity to study in their own language.

In an order issued by the union education ministry today, the government has directed all school and higher education regulators such as University Grants Commission, All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) to make study material in Indian languages available for all courses in the next three years. The order has also been forwarded to heads of institutes of national importance like Indian institutes of Technology, central universities and national institutes of technology.

UGC, AICTE and the Department of School Education have also been asked to take up the issue with regard to state schools and universities. “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,” the ministry said. It added that pursuing education in the mother tongue can provide a student the natural space to think innovatively without any language barrier.

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School textbooks in 30 languages

The government has been working in the direction of providing education in the mother tongue since the past two years. It has translated engineering, medical, law, undergraduate, postgraduate and skill books through the Anuvadini AI based App. These books are available on the ekumbh portal. Study material of the school curriculum is also available in 30 Indian languages on DIKSHA. Competitive exams like JEE, NEET, CUET are being held in 13 Indian languages.

The NEP 2020 recommends the idea that the multilingual nature of the country is its huge asset and strength, which needs to be utilised efficiently for the socio-cultural, economic and educational development of the nation.