More colleges could teach engineering in regional languages – Times of India

PUNE: The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) chairman, Anil Sahasrabudhe, said on Monday that the council was expecting more than double the number of proposals it had received last year, from engineering colleges wanting to start courses in regional languages.

“Last year (AY 2021-22), a total of 20 engineering colleges across India, including two in Pune, had started engineering courses in regional languages. We are expecting now that more than double the same proposals will come for AY 2022-23. The process for submission of proposals begins from Tuesday,” he said, during a press interaction on the sidelines of an event organised by the Education Promotion Society of India (EPSI) in Pune city.

The first engineering course in the Marathi medium received a good response from students, with all the 68 seats taken at the Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering (PCCOE). Institutions across the country applied to launch the course in vernacular languages, after the apex body for engineering education invited applications as part of New Education Policy (NEP).
AICTE aims to reach all aspirants, particularly from the rural and tribal areas, who find it difficult to study in the English language. It plans to offer Bachelor of Engineering (BE) and Bachelor of Technology (BTech) courses in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati and Bengali, besides Marathi.

Sahasrabudhe added, “Looking at the first year’s response, we are hoping to get many more proposals for this academic year. The initiative has taken off well in the 20 approved colleges last year.”

AICTE will provide the entire reading material in Marathi to colleges. It has translated the material through special software that can translate the entire engineering syllabus into 22 regional languages in quick time.

On NEP, Sahasrabudhe said, “This policy is important for the holistic development of students and for their education in various disciplines, both aspects being its main features.”

Meanwhile, Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari inaugurated the national conference organised by EPSI on the theme ‘National Education Policy 2020: Role of Private Sector in an Effective Implementation’.

He said, “The NEP has given due importance to the opening up of the education sector to foreign universities, emphasis on interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary learning and student-centric education.”