New Delhi,July 24, 2023.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has urged its affiliated schools to teach Indian languages in their classes, especially till Class 5. This statement has been issued on the occasion of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 completing three years.
“The National Education Policy 2020, in paragraph 4.12, emphasizes the significant cognitive advantages of multilingualism for young learners, particularly when they are exposed to multiple languages from foundational stage, with a specific focus on their mother tongue. The policy strongly advocates for utilizing the home language, mother tongue, local language, or regional language as the medium of instruction whenever feasible, at least until Grade 5, but preferably extending till Grade 8 and beyond,” the official circular stated.
CBSE has motivated affiliated schools to adopt NCERT books which are now being made available in 22 scheduled Indian languages, as per instructions by the Ministry of Education, Government of India.
“The CBSE affiliated schools may consider using Indian languages, as enumerated in the Schedule 8 of the Indian Constitution, as the medium of Instruction from Foundational Stage till end of Secondary Stage i.e. from pre-primary classes till class XII as an optional medium in addition to other existing options. Schools may explore the available resources, consult with experts in the field, and collaborate with other schools to share best practices to make multilingual education in CBSE schools a reality,” the official notice stated.
Following the notice, Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, also appreciated CBSE for this decision. “I congratulate CBSE for providing the option of education in Indian languages from kindergarten to class 12th in all its schools,” he tweeted. “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.”