(a) whether the Government is considering to encourage use of mother tongue/regional language in imparting education at primary level and if so, the details thereof; and
(b) whether it is a fact that the students who are taught in their mother tongues perform better at primary level and if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)
(a): National Policy of Education, 1986 (as amended in 1992), recognises that regional languages are already in use as medium of education at the primary and secondary stages. The policy also underlines the need to develop curricula and devise instructional materials in tribal languages at the initial stages, with arrangements for switching over to the regional language. The National Curriculum Framework, 2005 emphasizes the importance of imparting primary education in the mother tongue of the child. As per Section 29 (2)(f) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, the medium of instruction shall, as far as practicable, be in the child''s mother tongue. Many States have developed material in the mother tongue, mostly tribal languages, of children where the mother tongue is different from the medium of instruction at the school. The State-wise detail on material developed by States in the mother tongue is at Annexure.
(b): No survey for specific comparison of performance of the students based on teaching-learning in the mother tongue has been undertaken by the Central Government. The National Council of Educational Research and Training periodically conducts the National Achievement Surveys (NAS) of learning achievement of the children in classes – III, V, VIII, and X, but this does not compare student learning based on teaching-learning in the mother tongue. However, international studies have shown positive impact of instruction in the mother tongue.
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