Assam : On Saturday, an important meeting was held between Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The objective of this meeting was to further strengthen the education system of Assam. In the conversation, both the leaders discussed promoting innovation and research in the state under the National Education Policy 2020. Dharmendra Pradhan described this meeting as pleasant and said that this is a big step towards taking forward the Purbodaya vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Assam will become a center of research and entrepreneurship
Union Minister Pradhan said that Assam will be established as a center providing research-based knowledge and solutions. It is not only a matter of education but entrepreneurship and innovation will also be strengthened in the state. He said that the central government is making plans to connect Assam with the opportunities of the 21st century and keeping in mind the linguistic diversity there.
Chief Minister expressed enthusiasm
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also expressed happiness after this meeting. He said that we got the opportunity to meet the Union Minister and have a detailed discussion on expanding the education structure. He indicated that in the coming times, the state will see many new and interesting initiatives in the field of education. The Chief Minister also said that higher education and vocational education in the state will be redesigned.
Debate on mother tongue and language controversy
Meanwhile, a different debate also emerged on language. Jawaharlal Nehru University Vice Chancellor Shantishri Dhulipudi Pandit said that it is not necessary to consider mother tongue as the primary language. She said that language should not be made a weapon of hatred or superiority. According to her, a person should learn three languages – mother tongue, local market language and career language.
Call to adopt linguistic diversity
This statement of Shantishri Pandit has given a new direction to the debate on imposition of Hindi, especially in states like Maharashtra and Karnataka. She says that linguistic diversity should be adopted and every citizen should have the right to choose the language. She also added that the poor should get the option to choose which language they learn. This idea is in sync with the thinking of NEP 2020 which talks about making education multilingual and inclusive.
