NEW DELHI: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked all universities across the country to allow students to write exams in local or regional languages.
The UGC has said even if the course is offered in English, students should be given the option to write answers in their native languages during exams.
UGC chairman Professor M. Jagadesh Kumar has said that the translation of original writing into local languages and the use of local language in the teaching-learning process at universities should be promoted in universities.
“Promotion and regular use of Indian languages in education is an important area of focus in the National Education Policy 2020. The policy emphasises the importance of teaching and communication in local languages. It stresses the need to promote communication in all Indian languages for better cognitive achievement and overall personality development of the learners,” he said.
According to the UGC chairman, the teaching-learning process in local languages has benefited students, especially those from socially and economically disadvantaged groups. However, the academic ecosystem continues to be English-medium-centric.
“If teaching, learning, and evaluation are strengthened in local languages, it will increase the participation of students in teaching-learning, which will increase their success rate. This will specifically strengthen efforts to achieve the envisaged goal of increasing the gross enrollment ratio in higher education from 27 percent to 50 percent by 2035,” Prof. Kumar asserted.
According to the UGC chairman, higher education institutions have an important role in creating textbooks in local languages and promoting the teaching-learning process. There is a need to strengthen the efforts being made to encourage the use of local languages in teaching, including the writing of textbooks in local languages and the translation of standard books into other languages.
In order to implement these arrangements, the UGC has also sought several pieces of information from various universities. Under this, universities have been asked to list subject-wise textbooks that are available in local languages. Further, a subject-wise list of major subjects has been sought for which textbooks should be translated into local languages. (IANS)
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