Parliament Question: Implementation of Mother-Tongue Based Education

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-4949 ANSWERED ON-23/03/2026 Implementation of Mother-Tongue Based Education 4949. Adv Gowaal Kagada Padavi: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) whether the National Education Policy (NEP) and subsequent policy decisions have provision for teaching in local and tribal languages at foundational and primary levels to improve comprehension among students, particularly in tribal districts such as Nandurbar in Maharashtra, if so, the details thereof; (b) the details of specific steps taken by the Government to develop curriculum, textbooks and digital learning content in tribal languages and dialects, including collaboration with linguistic experts and State authorities; (c) whether teachers are being recruited or trained with multilingual competencies to implement mother-tongue-based education effectively; (d) the details of the financial and institutional support extended to States for promoting regional language instruction in schools; and (e) the measurable Impact of these initiatives on learning outcomes, enrolment and retention among tribal students? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a) to (e): The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 recognizes the vital role of multilingualism and mother tongue based education. Para 4.12 of NEP 2020 emphasizes that wherever possible, the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, and preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, should be the child’s mother tongue/home language/local language. This is reinforced by the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE) 2023, which places the child’s linguistic context at the heart of learning and lays a clear roadmap forstructured multilingual education and the following initiatives have been taken in the area of school education to promote Indian languages: (i) NCERT has developed and published textbooks in 22 scheduled languages for Grades 1 to 3 and 6. Similarly, all books of classes 4,5,7 to 12 will be published in all Schedule 8 languages and English. The textbooks are available at NCERT’s website https://ncert.nic.in. (ii) The Jaadui Pitara (JP), a set of 53 play-based learning-teaching materials for ages 3-8 was launched on 20th February 2023. Available in 22 Indian languages and English, JP includes toys, puzzles, story cards, flashcards, and teacher handbooks. Its digital extension, the e-Jaadui Pitara, launched on 10th February 2024, offers multilingual stories, activities, songs in 22 Indian languages. As envisaged in NEP 2020, these initiatives are an integral part of the foundational stage. (iii) The Ministry of Education (MoE) through NCERT and Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysuru along with the Tribal Institutes has developed Primers (launched in March, 2024) in 121 local languages including tribal lanaguage for FLN in mother tongues spoken by populations of at least 10,000. Primers are available at https://ncert.nic.in/primers.php?ln=en. (iv) The Ministry of Education initiated a nationwide programme to promote all Indian languages through the programme of Bhasha Sangam. Children in school learn 100 sentences in the 22 scheduled languages with audio and video support. Schools across the country are participating and learning the Indian languages. Both textual and audio-video materials are available on DIKSHA portal at https://ncert.nic.in/bs-2021.php. (v) The Rashtriya e-Pustakalaya provides quality books to children and adolescents, ensuring accessibility across diverse geographies, languages, genres, and educational levels. The platform offers 6,000+ non-academic books in 23 languages making a wide range of resources available to users. (vi) The PM e-Vidya initiative has expanded to 200 DTH TV channels with vision of “One Nation, One Digital Platform”, delivering curriculum-aligned content in various 128 Indian languages and 7 foreign languages, enhancing reach and inclusivity of rural area. (vii) Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has prescribed using child’s home language, mother tongue or a familiar regional language , as a medium of instruction at the foundational stage and also at the preparatory stage. The notification dated 22.05.2025 is available at https://cbseacademic.nic.in/web_material/Circulars/2025/30_Circul ar_2025.pdfThe Department of School Education and Literacy has also launched a National Mission to improve learning outcomes at the elementary level through an Integrated Teacher Training Programme called NISHTHA – National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha in 2019-20. Under NISHTHA FLN, modules such as ‘Multilingual Education in Primary Grades’ are specifically included to equip teachers with strategies for addressing linguistic diversity in classrooms. The National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST), developed by NCTE under para 5.20 of NEP 2020, establishes a uniform framework for teacher competency. To facilitate this, NPST guiding document was released by NCTE, available in accessible formats including Braille, audio, and 22 scheduled languages. It guides teachers to create inclusive learning environments that respect and integrate students’ home languages, thereby strengthening multilingual education in classrooms and supporting equitable learning outcomes across diverse linguistic contexts. The Four-Year Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP), aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, is designed to prepare professionally competent teachers through a multidisciplinary and holistic approach that integrates content, pedagogy, values, and practice. The programme emphasizes grounding student-teachers in Indian languages, cultural contexts, and Indian knowledge systems, including tribal traditions, while equipping them with skills to address diverse classroom realities. States/UTs including Maharashtra are encouraged through review meetings, PAB meetings and other platforms to operationalize multilingual strategies by mapping learners’ mother tongues, facilitating availability of learning materials in local languages, and training teachers for multilingual pedagogies. Financial assistance is provided to States and UTs (including Maharashtra) for implementation of the interventions under Samagra Shiksha (including promotion of regional languages instructions in schools) as per the Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B) under Samagra Shiksha prepared by the States and UTs based on their requirements and priority. The Government of India conducts periodic large-scale assessments, to measure learning and education outcomes across the country, through PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development) RashtriyaSarvekshan, which is conducted by National Assessment Centre, PARAKH under the aegis of the Ministry of Education. The primary objective of this survey is to evaluate the learning competencies of students at the end of each of the educational stages i.e. Foundational, Preparatory, and Middle. The latest PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan was conducted on December 4, 2024. A comparative analysis of State-wise average scores at foundational stage during National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 and PRS 2024 reflects the depth and impact of NIPUN Bharat Mission. There is an improvement in learning achievements of the students reflecting the success of NIPUN Bharat Mission across the country. It also shows that the performance of children in Grade 3 in rural and government schools is better than urban and private schools, indicating clear improvement in learning outcomes from previous survey. This can be accessed at https://dashboard.parakh.ncert.gov.in/en. The details of retention rates, based on UDISE+, are tabulated below: - Retention rate at different levels (including tribal students) Year Foundational Preparatory Middle Secondary India 2023-24 98.0 85.4 78 45.6 2024-25 98.9 92.4 82.8 47.2 *******