NEP prescribes no Language – States given freedom to Choose

NEP prescribes no Language – States given freedom to Choose

News: As per a Central government panel, the NEP will provide freedom to choose the language of instruction.
• The ministry of education in 2021 had a appointed the Bhartiya Bhasha Samiti which was tasked to prepare an action plan for the growth of Indian languages as prescribed under NEP 2020.
• It was required that mother tongue be the medium of instruction in schools and higher education institutions.

What were the points highlighted by the Committee?
• The committee has found that there are 35 mother tongues as mediums of instruction, and as part of the three-language formula, 160 languages as well as mother tongues are taught.
• Focus has been on providing study material in languages of the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution from Class 1 to the post-graduate level in all streams of education.
• Efforts are also being made to incorporate language as a qualification for teaching jobs as there is a need to prepare teachers to be bilingual.
• As nearly 50% of citizens speak Hindi the committee was of opinion that there should be an intent to learn Hindi which will act as a unifying factor across the nation.

Salient Features of NEP 2020:
• Universal access to education at all levels of school from pre-primary to Grade 12.
• Ensuring quality early childhood care and education to all children between 3-6 years.
• Emphasis on promoting multilingualism and Indian languages where the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, will be the home language/mother tongue/local language/regional language.
• Focus on giving equitable and inclusive education by emphasizing on socially and economically disadvantaged groups.
• Increasing Gross Enrollment Ratio in Higher education to 50%.
• New curricular and pedagogical structure (5+3+3+4) and establishing National mission on Foundational literacy and numeracy.
• Achieving 100% youth and adult literacy.
• Expansion of open and distance learning to increase Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER).
• Setting up of National research foundation and Setting up of a new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development)