RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh government has initiated a decisive move to provide quality primary education in local dialects across the tribal regions of the state including the remotely located areas.
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai has earlier directed the education department to develop and distribute bilingual quality books in 18 regional dialects in the tribal belt and scheduled areas.
“The decision will bridge the educational gap and ensure every child regardless of geographical terrain or language background to access quality education. It will also curb dropout rates in schools, especially in areas where local language is seen as marginalised”, said the CM while interacting with the students and teachers in the tribal-dominated Bagiya village of Jashpur district where ‘Sadari’ regional language has been introduced for primary education as part of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The literacy rate in Chhattisgarh at 70.28 percent remains below the national figure stands at over 76 percent and the education scenario in the tribal areas often remains a matter of concern.
The state government is giving thrust towards implementation of the NEP 2020 particularly in the tribal areas. The intended plan is to make education more inclusive and accessible to children in their native languages. There will also be efforts to keep the children’s mother tongue as the conversational language between the students and teachers.
“The state government’s vision besides encouraging multilingualism will also safeguard the perceived endangered languages of tribals and give a boost to children’s creativity and mental process of acquiring quality education”, said a senior officer in the education department.
The local dialect/language will be introduced at the foundation and primary school stage. "The use of local language in early childhood education can lead to a much better understanding and will notably impact the academic performance of learners", Dinesh Sharma, headmaster, a government high school in Bagiya told TNIE.
The state government in addition has laid special emphasis on vocational education with plans to enhance skill development programmes in the tribal areas. The high-quality textbooks for various courses would also be made available in regional languages to meet the intended objectives.