The Indian dream, or at least, the Indian parents' dream to see their sons and daughters as engineers have been made a tad easier by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Engineering colleges teach their courses in English and it becomes a nightmare for students who have completed their high school education in a regional language. But not anymore. PM Modi has announced that first-year engineering programmes will now be taught in regional languages — in 14 colleges across eight states to start with.
The five languages — Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Bangla — that these courses will be taught in are (with the exception of Hindi) majorly spoken in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has lost the assembly election in all these states and is in the process of wooing the electorate over for the 2024 General Elections. Hindi, which is spoken in many northern states, is also spoken in Uttar Pradesh, which will see elections in 2022.
But this might as well be a coincidence. "I am happy to share that there will be 14 engineering colleges in eight states which will offer education in five different Indian languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, and Bangla," he added.
Speaking about the changing scenario of education during the COVID-19 pandemic, PM Modi said, "Our youth is ready to bring a transformation; it does not want to wait anymore. We have witnessed how COVID changed the entire scenario, but students adapted to these situations quickly and online education is becoming the order of the day. The new National Education Policy assures the youth that the country is complete with them and with their spirits. The program of artificial intelligence (AI) launched now will also make our youngsters future-oriented and will create a way for AI-driven economy," he said.
The NEP 2020 was launched under the then Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal amid the COVID-19 pandemic on July 29, 2020. PM Modi virtually addressed, not only the Education Ministry but school and college students, principals and teachers from across the country on the policy's first anniversary. Releasing ten schemes to implement the NEP, the PM said that the policy will take into consideration the national interest of India, while providing "digital, machine and AI-supported" learning to the students in the country. The NEP 2020 has received almost an equal amount of appreciation and criticism from various stakeholders over the past year, but the PM has always assured us that this policy is the key to a new India that will become a world leader.
