New Delhi: In a significant development, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has extended its mediums of instruction to include 22 languages, which include regional languages and mother tongues, along with English and Hindi.
This important decision, announced by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, aims to promote linguistic diversity and offer students a more inclusive and comprehensive learning experience. The announcement comes as the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 completes three years. In line with NEP 2020, CBSE is encouraging schools to foster linguistic diversity, cultural understanding, and academic success.
According to the official circular, the National Education Policy 2020 highlights the significant cognitive benefits of multilingualism for young learners, particularly when they are exposed to multiple languages from an early stage, with a specific emphasis on their mother tongue. The policy strongly advocates for using the home language, mother tongue, local language, or regional language as the medium of instruction whenever possible, at least until Grade 5, but preferably extending until Grade 8 and beyond.
CBSE has urged affiliated schools to consider adopting NCERT books, which are now available in 22 scheduled Indian languages, as instructed by the Ministry of Education, Government of India. The official notice states that CBSE-affiliated schools should explore the available resources, consult with experts in the field, and collaborate with other schools to share best practices in order to make multilingual education in CBSE schools a reality.
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also commended CBSE for this decision, stating, ‘I congratulate CBSE for providing the option of education in Indian languages from kindergarten to class 12th in all its schools. As per the vision of NEP, it will promote Indian language-based education in schools. This is a good start towards better outcomes in education.’
M Jagadesh Kumar, the UGC Chief, also praised CBSE’s decision, tweeting, ‘The collaboration between the school and higher education systems to promote Indian languages in education will produce a steady stream of students to Higher Educational Institutions who can think and work in Indian languages, making them creative and innovative.’
