On Monday, November 14, Union Minister Subhas Sarkar and Maharashtra's Minister for Higher and Technical Education Chandrakant Patil launched books written in Marathi for diploma and undergraduate (UG) engineering courses in the state. Speaking on the occasion, the union minister said the initiative is in line with the All India Council for Technical Education's (AICTE) philosophy of imparting technical education in Indian languages by introducing books in 12 local languages, as stated in a report by PTI.
These 12 local languages are Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Odia, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Gujarati, Kannada, Urdu, Malayalam and Assamese. He added that this will result in enhanced learning outcomes and strengthen innovation and research.
Citing National Education Policy (NEP), the minister said, "Giving priority to local languages in the NEP manifests our commitment to all regional languages. We consider Indian languages the soul of 'Bharatiyata' (Indianness) and the link to a better future."
Countries like Frace, Germany and South Korea which are technically advanced among others, have displayed one can achieve global education standards in mother tongues, he added. Further, "It (education in local languages) acts as a catalyst for inclusive development," Sarkar said.
Similarly, University Grants Commission and AICTE Chairman M Jagadeesh Kumar said research shows that when kids learn in their mother tongue, they become more creative and innovative. "That's why there is a lot of emphasis in the NEP to provide students knowledge in schools, colleges and universities in our own Indian languages," he said.
Also, recently, President Droupadi Murmu launched AICTE books in Odia. And last month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had launched medical books in Hindi in Madhya Pradesh.
