What does NEP 2020 say about languages?

NEP 2020 Language Instruction
• NEP 2020, a five-year consultation, mandates that the medium of instruction for students in both public and private schools until Grade 5 is in the home language or mother tongue, local language, or regional language.
• The policy encourages bilingualism (mother tongue along with English) to help young children learn and grasp non-trivial concepts more quickly.
• The policy also encourages the use of colorful textbooks to teach alphabets and numbers in Hindi and English.

AISES Findings on Languages Teached in Schools
• The eighth All India School Education Survey (AISES) found that the current three-language formula proposed by NEP 2020 has a significant departure from the 1968 policy.
• The policy provides greater flexibility in the three-language formula and does not impose any language on any State.
• The policy encourages some languages, including Sanskrit, classical languages, and high-quality textbooks in home languages/mother tongue.
• NCERT released a set of digital books in 104 regional languages and dialects in 2024 to improve access to such educational materials.

Implementation of the Three-Language Formula
• The implementation of the three-language formula has been poor, with Tamil being removed from its status in 2010 due to lack of Tamil speakers.
• State education officials in Himachal Pradesh have been unable to offer Telugu and Tamil as language options due to inability to find teachers for these languages.

Foreign Languages
• Foreign languages such as Korean, Japanese, Thai, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian will also be offered at the secondary level.