Policy Background
- NEP 2020 recommends teaching in mother tongue/local language up to Class 5 to enhance conceptual understanding and inclusivity.
- CBSE recently released language implementation guidelines to aid this transition.
Relevance : GS 1(Society ) ,GS 2(Education )
Challenges in Metro Schools
- Metropolitan CBSE schools (approx. 800–900 institutions) face practical issues due to:
- Linguistic diversity among students from varied backgrounds.
- Lack of a single dominant mother tongue in many classrooms.
- Switching medium of instruction could be confusing or impractical in such multilingual settings.
No Immediate Mandate
- CBSE clarified:
- No school is being forced to implement mother tongue instruction immediately.
- No penalties or disaffiliation for non-compliance at this stage.
- The goal is to ease into implementation, not enforce abruptly.
Implementation Strategy
- Schools asked to conduct a language-mapping exercise to identify students’ language preferences.
- A potential strategy: section-wise division of classes based on mother tongue to allow targeted instruction.
- CBSE is organizing webinars and workshops to build capacity and awareness among school administrators and teachers.
Key Takeaway
- While CBSE supports NEP 2020’s mother tongue-based pedagogy, it acknowledges the practical difficulties in metros.
- The approach remains flexible, consultative, and gradual, with an emphasis on training, adaptation, and localized solutions.
