New Delhi Jul 25: The All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE, logo from Wikipedia) has granted permission for B. Tech programmes to be conducted in 11 native languages, including Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Gujarati, Malayalam, Bengali, Assamese, Punjabi, and Odia, in accordance with the National Education Policy 2020 (NEC 2020) with the aim to promote multilingualism and the power of language. AICTE has authorised fourteen engineering institutes in eight states to teach in regional languages. Four of the fourteen will be from Uttar Pradesh, two from Rajasthan, and one each from Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The remaining universities will offer the curriculum in Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, and Tamil in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu, respectively.
From the start of the current academic year, they will enrol over 1,000 students to undergraduate programmes in select fields such as computer science, electrical and electronics engineering, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, and information technology.
This was previously attempted at Madhya Pradesh’s Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hindi Vishwavidyalaya and Tamil Nadu’s Anna University. However, this initiative was not successful because there was little reading material in regional languages for engineering students. To overcome this barrier AICTE is now translating content including textbooks and online courses. They will also conduct faculty development programmes. Technological solutions will be piloted and implemented to assist teachers and help bridge any language barriers that may arise.
Students who choose regional courses will be required to complete a mandatory English course in all four years, to be able to compete in job market.
Calling it “A step in the right direction”, the Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu applauded these engineering colleges for providing courses in regional languages.
