Finance
According to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the government will provide study materials in 22 Indian languages up to Class 5 as part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which places a special emphasis on the mother tongue.
“We have decided to provide the curriculum till fifth standard in 22 Indian languages listed in the Constitution. Study materials of the foundational stage, be it textbook, playbook or play-based material, will be prepared in 22 languages of the Indian Constitution using technology,” Pradhan said.
Pradhan was at the launch of the three-day ‘Future of Learning Collaborative’ conference by city’s Anant National University and the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education.
Pradhan told reporters that the NEP’s mother tongue and local language are unique features.
He stated that the decision to review the study materials for the foundational stage under the new National Curriculum Framework was made at a meeting chaired by him on Monday (NCF). Previously, NCERT books were available in three languages: English, Hindi, and Urdu, he explained.
Children will spend five years in the foundational stage, three years each in the preparatory and middle stages, and four years in the secondary stage, according to the new school education system outlined in NEP 2020.
In 2020, the Centre began the process of revising school textbooks by appointing former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K Kasturirangan as the chairman of a 12-member steering committee charged with developing a new NCF.
Pradhan stated that the government’s plan for a Digital University, to be built on a networked hub-spoke model, is a unique concept with no world model, and that discussions are currently underway.
“To the best of our knowledge, there exists no university globally which provides a digital platform at this scale, from registration to examination through a virtual platform, while maintaining quality. India is developing a global model, and deliberations at various levels are going on and discussions of stakeholders are going on,” he said.
Source:IE
