UGC To Introduce UG, PG Programmes In Regional Languages

New Delhi: In continuation with the Union government’s numerous initiatives to incorporate regional languages as a medium of education in both schools and colleges following the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the University Grants Commission (UGC) plans to introduce undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in regional languages across the country.

According to the Hindustan Times, the UGC is set to appoint a committee to create the strategy for the translation of textbooks in partnership with the Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti, a panel of specialists working under the Union Ministry of Education to promote Indian languages.

UGC chairperson M. Jagadesh Kumar discussed the use of regional languages and revealed that the proposed committee would start by contacting the authors and publishers of widely used textbooks for the translation process. He added textbooks are essential elements for the effective use of regional language education and universities would not be able to start offering courses in regional languages without appropriate study materials and textbooks across disciplines.

“So, the first task of the committee will be to start the process of identifying books of global authors that we have been using in our colleges and universities for decades and hold discussions with well-known international publishers and authors regarding our intention to translate them into several Indian languages,” Kumar was quoted as saying.

He said that the commission had received positive responses from authors who were contacted for the translation of their books. The UGC-appointed committee will be also contacting Indian authors to translate their books into regional languages.

Earlier, the Madhya Pradesh government introduced medical course instruction in both Hindi and English, making it the first state to do so. Amit Shah, Union Home Minister, launched the textbooks for three first-year MBBS courses in October. Later, the AKTU in UP announced the introduction of first-year B.Tech courses in Hindi.