President Murmu Says All Must Have Access To Education; It Is Tool For Development

Bhubaneswar: Hailing education as a tool for development, President Droupadi Murmu on Friday said every child must have access to education which should be available to all without any discrimination.

Launching a host of education related projects at Jaydev Bhawan in Bhubaneswar, Murmu also emphasised the need to promote learning in regional languages as it will develop creative thinking and analytical skills among students.

The projects include engineering books of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in Odia language; glossary of technical terms in Odia, developed by Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (CSTT); and e-KUMBH (Knowledge Unleashed in Multiple Bharatiya Languages) portal.

Expressing happiness while launching  these important initiatives of the Union Ministry of Education, she said these are commendable steps in the direction of making education accessible to all.

Noting that many students face difficulty in understanding technical education in English, she said that is why under the National Education Policy-2020, the government has taken steps to provide technical education in regional languages.

Emphasising that mother tongue helps intellectual development in students, Murmu expressed confidence that learning in mother tongue would develop creative thinking and analytical skills among students and it would also provide equal opportunities to urban and rural students.

Noting that earlier technical education in regional languages used to face hurdles due to non-availability of textbooks in vernacular languages, the President appreciated AICTE for its efforts in removing this hurdle.

“Education is a tool for empowerment. We must ensure that each and every child in our country has access to education at every level. We have to do our best to make the education available to all without any discrimination,” Murmu said.

Stating that language should be an enabling factor not a hindrance for educating the students, she said the introduction of learning in regional and local languages ​​would go a long way towards building a well-educated, aware and vibrant society.

The President said that Odia is an ancient and rich language. It has a distinct literary tradition and rich vocabulary. Therefore, there would be no difficulty in getting technical education in Odia language.

Noting that under the National Education Policy-2020, equal importance is being given to all Indian languages, she said it has ushered in a new era in the field of Indian languages.

Speaking on the occation, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said introduction of Odia language as a medium of instruction in technical education has to be complemented with the availability of books and other study materials. Now the initiative of AICTE in this regard is highly appreciated. “I am happy to know that  AICTE has made the Odia translated version of the original books available for first year studies of both B Tech and Diploma in engineering courses. I hope books for rest of the courses will also be prepared soon,” he said.

Glossary of Technical Terminology in Odia language published in 3 volumes covering approximately 50,000 terminologies is a welcome step and will definitely help the engineering students in understanding the concepts of technical terms in Odia language and its usage, the Chief Minister said.

On steps taken by the state government for promotion of Odia language and literature, Naveen said Odia has been added as a medium of examination of Odisha Civil Services to enable the students to appear the exams in their mother tongue. Besides, the government has instituted special scholarships  for students both at  school  and college levels for outstanding performance in Odia language. This will go a long way in popularising Odia language, he added.

The event was attended by Governor Ganeshi Lal and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.