In alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which advocates for mother tongue or local language as the medium of instruction at least till the fifth grade, the Chhattisgarh government has taken an initiative to offer primary education in 18 local languages and dialects in remote tribal regions.
The state’s Chief Minister, Vishnu Deo Sai, at the state-level ‘Shala Praveshotsav’ programme in Bagiya village, Jashpur district, stated that this new initiative will be helpful in preserving local culture and traditions and enhance the quality of educational resources available to students in these regions.
The Shala Praveshotsav is an annual event that marks the start of the new academic session to encourage enrollment in schools. The event was relocated this year from Raipur, the state capital, to Bagiya, the Chief Minister’s hometown, to highlight the importance of local education.
By facilitating access to education, especially in tribal areas, through local languages, the government is hoping to improve the literacy rate of Chhattisgarh, which currently stands below the national average of 76% at 70.28%.
