Pokhriyal bats for school education in mother tongue

Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' has stressed the importance of regional languages in school education.

Addressing the 26th National Annual Conference of Sahodaya School organised via video conference by the Central Board of Secondary Education in association with Bangalore Sahodaya Schools Complex on Friday, he said: “Regional language is very important in education, that too at the level of school education.”

Anita Karwal, Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, Education Ministry, echoed him. “Mother tongue is a linking language. Not just Hindi and English, schools must teach regional languages (too) as connecting child with mother tongue is very important.”

She said that schools affiliated to the CBSE would be the first to implement the components of the National Education Policy (NEP) and were asked to be ready for drastic academic changes in the coming years.

Karwal asked schools to be careful while hiring teachers, saying appointing them on an ad hoc basis would not work as the government is particular the quality of teachers. “Every teacher must submit a dissertation during the hiring process. This is being followed in the recruitment of teachers for Kendriya and Navodaya Vidyalayas,” she said.