Odisha expands their Multilingual Education program

Odisha has for years been on the forefront of the multilingual education efforts in India. It is good to note that the government has decided to expand the program.

According to this latest news report, the government of Odisha has announced that they will add 200 more teaching posts of Multilingual Education (MLE) in addition to the 200 posts already existing.. They will predominantly focus on working in districts with students from tribal and minority communities. 

The government has also increased the number of languages under the promotion of  multilingual education from 10 to 16. The new languages to be included are Ho, Desia, Gadaba, Mundari, Sadri and Bhuyan.  ‘The expansion aligns with the state’s vision to preserve and revive tribal languages, fostering cultural heritage and inclusivity,’  said secretary-cum-commissioner of the department Roopa Roshan Sahoo.(The Indian Express)

Currently  in Odisha, under the multilingual education programme, children are being introduced to their mother tongue in the primary grades from Class I to Class III.  According to this news report, they are also working on a revised draft policy on MLE to address the language issues and to promote higher education and research on different tribal languages.

The state of Odisha is  already one of the leading states in terms of spearheading the cause of multilingual education(MLE). We have covered their MLE-related work in our blog page specifically dedicated to MLE Projects in the various states of India. We also have other resources related to MLE such as lists of MLE-related books, articles, and webpages in addition to the historical development of MLE and MLE policies in India. 

Regards,

Karsten in collaboration with Upasana

Resources:

1. Odisha Govt nod to 200 regular MLE teacher posts 

2.Odisha reworks mother tongue language education policy 

Photo Source: Image by AkshayaPatra Foundation from Pixabay