The Union Ministry of Education has issued a directive to all schools and higher education institutions, instructing them to provide digital study materials for every course in Indian languages within the next three years in a bid to align with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The directive reads, "The government has directed all school and higher education regulators like UGC, AICTE, NCERT, NIOS, IGNOU and heads of INIs like IITs, CUs and NITs to make study material in Indian languages available for all courses in the next three years. UGC, AICTE and the Department of School Education have also been asked to take up the issue with regard to state schools and universities."
Align with NEP
The move aims to enable students to study in their native languages, and study materials for all courses in both school and higher education will be made available digitally in Indian languages.
The Ministry has emphasized that the recommendation stems from the NEP 2020, which advocates for multilingualism in education to allow students to study in their own language, promoting better learning outcomes and innovation without language barriers.
The statement adds that the government has been working on this initiative for the past two years, utilizing the Anuvadini AI-based App for the translation of Engineering, Medical, Law, Undergraduate, Post Graduate, and Skill books. These materials are accessible on the e-kumbh portal, and in the school education ecosystem, study materials are available in over 30 Indian languages on DIKSHA.
Furthermore, competitive exams like the Joint Entrance Examination, National Eligibility Entrance Test, and Common University Entrance Test are conducted in 13 Indian languages.
