In particular, up till Class 5, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has urged its associated institutions to include Indian language instruction in their curricula. This announcement has been made in honor of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 reaching its third anniversary.
NEP 2020 was used by CBSE as justification for encouraging language variety, understanding of culture, and academic performance in schools.
“Paragraph 4.12 of the National Education Policy 2020 emphasizes the significant cognitive benefits of multilingualism for young learners, particularly when they are exposed to multiple languages from the foundational stage, with a specific focus on their mother tongue.” The official circular said that the policy “strongly advocates the use of the home language, mother tongue, local language, or regional language as the medium of instruction whenever possible, at least until Grade 5, but preferably extending until Grade 8 and beyond.”
M. Jagadesh Kumar, the head of UGC, praised the choice made by CBSE. According to his tweet, “The school and higher education systems working together to promote Indian languages in education would give a consistent supply of students to Higher Educational Institutions who can think and operate in Indian languages, making them creative and innovative.
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