Schools to have 22 regional languages as medium of instruction
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) along with English and Hindi will now offer education in 22 regional languages as medium of instruction in its affiliated schools from pre-primary to Class 12 for better learning in the line of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. With this initiative CBSE schools will provide a conducive environment for students from diverse linguistic backgrounds to excel in their academics.
To support this transformative change, NCERT has accelerated the process of publishing books in regional languages.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan while announcing this initiative said that the decision was taken with aims to promote diversity in languages and to provide students with more inclusive and comprehensive learning. He also highlighted the academic benefits of learning in one’s mother tongue as some children have problems with the English language.
Prior to this move, CBSE schools were limited to teach in either English or Hindi, while state board schools had the option to teach in English, Hindi, or a state language
A senior government official said that, ‘If learning is done without understanding the concepts, then what good will it bring to children. The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) aims on early education in the mother tongue for better understanding and comprehension of academics.
The progressive move of CBSE will strengthen the efforts to achieve excellence as aimed in NEP 2020, which emphasizes the importance of including mother tongues and regional languages in the educational system