Image Courtesy : www.facebook.com/DharmendraPradhanOdisha

On Tuesday, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the government would offer study materials till Class 5 in 22 Indian languages as the National Education Policy (NEP 2020) sets a particular focus on the mother tongue.

Pradhan said we decided to provide the curriculum till Class 5 in 22 Indian languages recorded in the Constitution. Study materials for the foundational stage- textbook, play-based material, or playbook, will be designed in 22 languages of the Indian Constitution with the help of technology.

Pradhan said that the mother tongue and local language are elements of the NEP 2020. He informed that this decision was taken at a meeting on Monday in order to review the study materials for the foundational stage under the new National Curriculum Framework. He said so far, NCERT textbooks used to be offered in three languages – English, Hindi, and Urdu.

As per the new school education approach summarized in NEP 2020, students will spend five years in the foundational stage, three years in the primary and middle stages, and four years in the secondary. The Centre had begun the procedure to revise school textbooks by appointing former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K Kasturirangan as the leader of a 12-member steering committee accountable for forming a new National Curriculum Framework.

Pradhan also talked about the government's plan for a Digital University. He said it is a unique concept with no world model, and considerations for the same are underway. To the best of our understanding, no university exists which offers a digital platform at this scale, from registration to examination via a virtual platform, while maintaining quality. India is developing a global model, deliberations at different levels are running, and discussions among stakeholders are going on.