The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has laid emphasis on empowering students from regional languages background. To enable these students to get apt technical education, the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) has signed a Memo randum of Understanding (MoU) with the Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (CSTT) to define scientific and technical terms in Hindi and other Indian languages. Experts emphasise that enabling the teaching-learning process in regional languages is not about replacing the English language. Rather, it is about empowering students, who did not have English as their primary medium in schools.
Translation is ongoing
MP Poonia, chairman, CSTT, says, "In alignment with NEP, we have revised English language course books to make them simpler. The next step was to translate them into regional languages, he says. Since 1961, CSTT has translated about 9 lakh words in the fields of law, agriculture and more in to the Hindi language. Of these, around 45,000 are technical words for Engineering, adds Poonia. "First-year textbooks for Engineering and Polytechnic courses have already been translated into Hindi and are in the process of being printed," he says. While 37 books have already been printed, 170 are in the pipeline and should be printed in another two months," says Poonia.
The readied vocabulary is enough to translate second-year books for Engineering and Polytechnic courses in Hindi as well. "For this purpose, we have finalised 88 subjects across Electrical, Electronical, Civil, Computer, and Mechanical Engineering. Currently, we are in process of identification of authors who will be able to translate the books into Hindi language," says Poonia. The aim is to finish this process for the second year by July 2022, he adds.
Other than Hindi
CSTT has identified other regional languages for translation of technical terms. "The technical terms translated in Marathi and Odia is ready. But the process of preparing books in these languages is still ongoing," he says.
Better understanding
"In every book, the technical term will first be mentioned in English, followed by the corresponding term in the regional language. The aim is to enable students, who have studied in regional langu age schools, to have a better understanding of technical terms. With books providing access to translated material, they will be able to study English books and then reference any term they are unable to understand in the same coursebooks in regional languages," says Anil D Sahasrabudhe, chairman, AICTE. "Language is a tool to understand the phenome non being discussed. While the English term specifies the 'action' being discussed, the translation will help make understanding smoother for the students," he adds.
Published on :- Times of India
Date :- 21 03 2022
