BHUBANESWAR: Union Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday wrote to Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel seeking measures for social and educational development of the Odia community residing in the western state, especially in Surat.
In his letter, Pradhan highlighted that Gujarat, especially Surat, was home to a significant Odia-speaking population who are immensely contributing to the industrial and social sectors of the state. Therefore, there is an urgent need to provide proper educational facilities in their mother-tongue.
He proposed to increase the number of Odia-medium schools, higher secondary schools and Odia language teaching and training schools in the state for the benefit of the Odia community residing there.
Stating that the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi placed strong emphasis on primary education in mother tongue, promotion of Indian languages and accessibility and strengthening of multilingual education, Pradhan stressed that institutional strengthening for the Odia language in Gujarat was necessary.
He said introducing Odia as an optional subject in colleges and universities across Gujarat besides establishing dedicated Odia language departments will provide students language continuity in higher education.
“Implementation of NCERT-based Odia curriculum in the state will also bring uniformity in the quality of teaching and ease academic migration for students moving between Gujarat and Odisha,” the Union minister said.
He further proposed introduction of a teacher eligibility test for the Odia language, underlining that it would help address the shortage of qualified Odia teachers at government schools in Gujarat.
The Union minister enclosed an application received from the ‘Surat Odia Samaj’ for its consideration and hoped that the Gujarat government under the progressive leadership of CM Patel will take necessary measures in the interest of the Odia-speaking community of the state.