Indian Languages To Be Medium of Instructions in CBSE Schools

Bhubaneswar, July 22: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) affiliated schools have been asked to adopt Indian languages as a medium of instruction in class from the Foundational Stage to the end of the Secondary Stage.

This move comes as part of efforts to promote multilingual education and to provide students with an opportunity to learn in their mother tongue or other regional languages.

At present, the medium of instruction followed by most of the CBSE-affiliated schools is either English or Hindi, with sporadic use of the local language.

The decision, aimed at embracing linguistic diversity and enhancing cultural understanding among students, allows schools to offer Indian languages as an optional medium of instruction alongside existing choices.

The National Education Policy 2020, which underscores the cognitive benefits of multilingualism for young learners, particularly when introduced from an early age, has been instrumental in shaping this initiative.

However, implementing multilingual education and using Indian languages as mediums of instruction presents various challenges. One of the primary concerns is the availability of skilled teachers capable of delivering quality education in multilingual settings. Additionally, the creation of high-quality multilingual textbooks and managing time constraints, especially in two-shift government schools, are vital aspects that require careful consideration.

To mitigate these challenges, the Ministry has asked the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to prepare new textbooks in 22 scheduled Indian languages. The NCERT has already prioritized this task to make textbooks accessible in these languages for all students in the upcoming sessions.

Furthermore, higher education institutions are also gearing up to produce textbooks and facilitate the learning-teaching process in Indian language mediums, in addition to English. The usage of Indian languages in conducting examinations is being encouraged across various disciplines such as technical education, medical education, vocational education, skill education, and law education.