In a first, Marathi-medium B-Tech graduates land top jobs in tech sector

India Today

9 hours ago

A recent quiet revolution in Maharashtra didn't involve street protests, viral hashtags, or celebrity endorsements. It came from a modest classroom in Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering, where a group of students graduated with a B-Tech, a degree in Computer Science and Engineering, taught entirely in Marathi. There is more to it. Over 75 per cent of these students have already obtained placements with top companies. Their success challenges long-standing beliefs and opens space to reconsider the importance of Indian languages in higher education.advertisementFor over a century, we have used English as a primary medium of instruction in Indian higher education, including engineering, medicine, and law. Intellectual pursuits became increasingly delinked from Indian linguistic and cultural contexts. Post-independence, Indian languages never held up as a medium of instruction. Ironically, the knowledge systems in India once thrived in diverse Indian languages. Unfortunately, our educational institutions brushed aside these traditions in the race to modernise our higher education system.With the launch of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the conversations about linguistic inclusivity in higher education have become mainstream. NEP 2020 not only underlines the importance of mother-tongue education and encourages universities and technical institutions to offer programs in the Indian language medium.
What the Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering achieved wasn't accidental. It took planning, vision, and conviction. Faculty had to be trained to teach in Marathi without compromising technical accuracy. High-quality textbooks and lab manuals had to be created or translated.advertisementStill, the doubts linger. Some argue that the global nature of the corporate world presents challenges for engineering graduates educated in the Indian language medium. Yet, the hiring data of Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering says something different. Recruiters selected these graduates for their strong technical skills, clear thinking, and problem-solving ability. Institutions and employers must, therefore, work together to clarify that choosing education in an Indian language medium does not limit future growth or employment potential. Countries across the globe are excelling in scientific and technological innovations using their native languages. So why should India avoid teaching data structures in Marathi or thermodynamics in Tamil?India now has an opportunity to reimagine our linguistic diversity as a powerful enabler of educational and technological reach. AI-based machine translation tools are improving rapidly. Projects like Bhashini and initiatives by IITs and IIITs create open-source translation models that can convert complex English texts into accurate, context-rich versions in Indian languages.There's also a societal mindset shift to be navigated. Parents often associate English education with upward mobility. That perception won't change overnight. However, stories like Marathi B-Tech. The batch will positively impact the minds of students who want to study engineering without leaving behind their language or their dignity. That is democratisation in the truest sense. Technical education in Indian languages will expand the talent pool and innovation potential.advertisementWhere do we go from here? The Marathi engineering program must not remain a one-off experiment. This success story shows what's possible, and it could be the beginning of a larger movement across different institutions nationwide committed to educational transformation.What these Marathi medium engineering programme students have achieved has the potential to shift our thinking about language, learning, and aspiration. A signal that we're entering a new phase where language is no longer a barrier to excellence but a bridge to it.(Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar is the former Chairman of the University Grants Commission [UGC] and former Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University [JNU]) (Views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author)