The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has instructed all its schools to make use of educational material which will focus on learning in one’s mother tongue and encourage multilingual education.
The CBSE circular dated May 7 is in line with the National Education Policy 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework 2022, which emphasise teaching and learning in the child’s mother tongue, or regional and local language.
“Recognising the value of preserving linguistic diversity as highlighted in above documents, the National Council for Educational Research and Training and the Indian Institute of Languages have collaborated to produce a series of 52 entry-level primers tailored to various mother tongues and local languages spoken across India,” Praggya M. Singh, Director (Academics), CBSE stated. Bhutia, Bodo, Garo, Khandeshi, Kinnauri, Kuki, Manipuri, Nepali, Sherpa and Tulu are some of the languages the primers are available in.
These primers form a basal reader for the local language and introduce numerals to the kids of balvatikas and anganwadis, and for adult literacy programmes. They are a key to pronunciation and comprehension of the letters of the alphabet and symbols of a language. Children are also made familiar with the meaning of one or more sets of letters made through their combinations in initial, medial and final positions in a word.
The CBSE has said that these primers should be used to aid students in acquiring and mastering language skills early on, particularly if their mother tongue or local language is not the medium of instruction in schools. “Schools are encouraged to promote the use of these primers among teachers and students to develop strong language skills in their native language,” Ms. Singh said.
There are multiple challenges, including the availability of skilled teachers capable of teaching in multi-lingual settings, for implementing the policy of teaching in local languages. These primers will become ready reckoners for teaching children from three to eight years of age in their local language at the foundational stage, officials said.
