The University Grants Commission (UGC) plans to introduce undergraduate and postgraduate programs in regional languages across the country. This is a continuation of the Union Government’s numerous initiatives to include regional languages as a teaching resource in both schools and colleges under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
According to the Hindustan Times, the UGC will appoint a committee to develop the textbook translation strategy in collaboration with the Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti, a panel of specialists working under the Union Ministry of Education to promote Indian languages.
Discussing the use of regional languages, UGC President M. Jagadesh Kumar revealed that the proposed committee would start by contacting the authors and publishers of widely used textbooks for the translation process. He added that textbooks are essential elements for the effective use of regional language teaching and that universities would not be able to offer courses in regional languages without suitable study materials and textbooks for all disciplines.
Read | Madhya Pradesh Medical Colleges are going to teach 3 MBBS subjects in Hindi
“So the committee’s first task will be to begin the process of identifying books by global authors that we have used for decades in our colleges and universities and to hold discussions with well-known international publishers and authors about our intent to publish them. to translate. in various Indian languages,” said Kumar.
He said the committee had received positive responses from authors who had been approached for the translation of their books. The committee appointed by the UGC will also contact Indian authors to translate their books into regional languages.
Earlier, the government of Madhya Pradesh introduced medical courses in both Hindi and English, making it the first state to do so. Union Home Secretary Amit Shah launched the textbooks for three first-year MBBS courses in October. Later, the AKTU in UP announced the introduction of first-year B.Tech courses in Hindi.
Since then, this idea has been adopted by several other states, as well as downtown and various varsities.
Read all the latest education news here