Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday said that in the coming years, the medium of instruction in educational institutions will primarily be Indian and local languages.

The minister made the remarks while chairing a meeting of the Consultative Committee of Parliament on the theme of promotion of education in Indian languages, officials said.

“In the coming years, the medium of instruction will be primarily Indian and local languages. Higher education institutes such as IITs are introducing courses in local languages, including technical courses such as engineering. The priority remains to provide books in Indian languages,” Pradhan said.

The minister also emphasised the use of technology in translating content and leveraging artificial intelligence for language translation.

“For students coming from rural areas or economically weaker sections, technology can help in understanding the content in their preferred language,” he added.

Members of Parliament, who attended the meeting, appreciated the material prepared by the Ministry of Education on Bhasha Sangam, which will help students learn 100 sentences in 22 languages.

School Education Secretary Sanjay Kumar informed the panel about the details of 1,369 mother tongues identified in the country, which were classified into 121 languages.

He also noted that these are spoken by more than 10,000 people in the country.

“Out of these 121 languages, 22 are written in the 8th edition of the Constitution, and 99 other languages are unidentified but spoken by more than 10,000 people,” he said.

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