The final draft of the National Education Policy (NEP) has given a big push for the introduction of Sanskrit across all grades of school education along with other classical Indian languages.
The policy has recommended that Sanskrit should be offered at all levels of school and higher education. It can be offered as one of the optional subjects.
“Sanskrit, while also an important modern language, possesses classical literature that is greater in volume than that of Latin and Greek put together, containing vast treasures of mathematics, philosophy, grammar, music, etc, written by people of various religions as well as non-religious people,” the policy has said.
It can be taught in schools through experimental and innovative approaches including through the integration of technology.
On the same line, the teaching of other classical languages and literature including Tamil, Odia, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Pali, Persian and Prakrit, should also be widely available in schools. If possible, they can be offered through online mode as well.
Students of both public and private schools may have the option of learning at least two years of a classical language of India and its associated literature in Classes 6-12, with a provision to continue from middle level through secondary education and university, the policy has recommended.
The Union Cabinet is slated to soon take up the draft policy for consideration.
The policy is also of the opinion that students should be exposed to foreign languages at the secondary level to know the culture of the world, for professional development and greater mobility. They could be Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, French, German, Spanish, or Russian.
These languages can be imparted through “gamification and apps”, through real-life experiences or through films, theatre and storytelling.
