From pre-primary to class 5: CBSE sets stage for teaching in mother tongue, asks schools to map languages
Signalling the Centre's intent to make teaching in the mother tongue mandatory at the primary level in the future, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has asked all affiliated schools to map students' mother tongues 'at the earliest' and align instructional materials accordingly before the end of the summer break.
Currently, English is the dominant language of instruction in primary classes in CBSE schools across the country. The CBSE is the largest national school board with over 30,000 schools affiliated to it.
The CBSE circular states that from pre-primary to Class 2 — called the 'foundational stage' under the National Education Policy 2020 — teaching should be in the child's home language, mother tongue, or a familiar regional language. This language, referred to as 'R1', should ideally be the mother tongue. If that's not practical, it can be the state language, as long as it's familiar to the child, the circular adds.
For classes 3 to 5, the circular says students may continue to learn in R1 (mother tongue/ familiar regional language), or may be given the option of studying in a medium other than R1 (that is, R2).
Although the circular, dated May 22, states that teaching in the mother tongue may 'commence from July', it leaves room for flexibility for schools that may need more time to transition.
This is the first time the CBSE has indicated it may make mother tongue-based teaching compulsory in its schools. Until now, following the release of the NEP 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023, the Board had only encouraged its use through advisory circulars.
Both NEP 2020 and NCFSE 2023 recommend using the mother tongue in early education, especially at the foundational stage, up to the age of eight years. 'Since children learn concepts most rapidly and deeply in their home language, the primary medium of instruction would optimally be the child's home language/ mother tongue/ familiar language,' the NCFSE 2023 states.
Students in Classes 1 and 2 primarily study two languages and mathematics, a CBSE official said, adding that the circular means mathematics instruction in these classes can now be in the mother tongue or a familiar regional language.
At this stage, the focus is on familiarising students with two spoken languages — R1 and R2 (a language other than R1) — the circular states. A senior official in the Ministry of Education said that NCERT's textbooks for Classes 1 and 2 are already available in 22 Indian languages, and textbooks for higher classes are being translated.
The circular asks all schools to form an 'NCF implementation committee' by the end of May. This committee will map students' mother tongues, align language resources, and guide curriculum adjustments. Schools have also been asked to complete the language mapping exercise at the earliest.
'By the end of summer break, schools should achieve realignment of the curriculum and teaching materials to reflect the use of R1 as MoI (medium of instruction), and to ensure structured introduction of R2 at appropriate stage. Teacher orientation and training workshops should also be completed before the implementation begins, focusing on multilingual pedagogy, classroom strategies and language-sensitive assessment,' the circular reads.
While implementation may commence from July this year, the circular also states that schools which require time to transition may avail of additional time to ensure resources are available, teachers are allocated, and curriculum is realigned. 'However, care may be taken that the implementation is not inordinately delayed,' it says.
The CBSE has asked schools to submit monthly progress reports to it, starting from July. 'Schools may also be visited by academic observers for support and guidance,' the circular states.
Pointing out that the circular is meant to ensure that schools make an effort towards language instruction, the CBSE official said they are to begin collating their resources, and will have to indicate a time-frame if they need additional time. While schools with more resources are not expected to run into hurdles, smaller ones may need more time to ensure resources are available, the official said.
The official in the Ministry of Education, meanwhile, said the NCFSE asks that students be offered the option of learning in the mother tongue, and the CBSE circular marks a beginning in that direction. The mapping will decide which languages are taught in a school, the official said.
Meanwhile, Ameeta Mulla Wattal, Chairperson and Executive Director, DLF Foundation Schools, pointed to the challenges schools could face in implementing the CBSE's instructions.
'Choosing a single R1 can be difficult. Some students may feel alienated if their home language is not chosen. Maybe for the sake of convenience, parents might say let's carry on with Hindi, though our mother tongue is different. Families may also prefer English-medium instruction. There may be a conflict between home aspirations and school policies. Transition to the mother tongue would have to be gradual, and well-supported. Also, how are classrooms to be structured, if there are students from different linguistic backgrounds,' she said.
'Gurgaon, for instance, has a particularly mobile population. There are young people coming in from all states, and there's a variety of languages in Gurgaon. Accessing the linguistic profile of the student can itself be difficult — parents will have to declare what they speak, sometimes parents may not be speaking the mother tongue at home. In urban spaces, you have mixed-language classrooms and our resources are limited. We will have to recruit teachers who not only know the language but also know how to teach in that language. We will have to engage with parents, and have an orientation to explain the rationale of this,' she said.
Sudha Acharya, Principal, ITL Public School, Dwarka said: 'We did a language mapping in April. The most spoken regional language is Hindi. For us, R1 will be Hindi and R2 will be English. Here, in the foundational stage, it is always bilingual. When children come in at three years, they usually speak the language that is spoken at home. For classes 3 to 5, classroom instruction may be bilingual, but we are an English medium school and our medium of instruction is English. So for these classes, we will stick to English.'
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