Provide study material in Indian languages

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.