New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has taken a pioneering step in fostering vernacular education by inviting accomplished authors to create original textbooks for undergraduate (UG) courses in 12 Indian languages, including Odia.
In an official announcement detailing the introduction of UG courses in these languages, the UGC has issued a call for Expression of Interest (EOI) from qualified authors associated with higher educational institutions. The languages for which authors are sought are Assamese, Bengali, Kannada, Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, and Odia.
The notification, available on the UGC website, states, “University Grants Commission (UGC), Ministry of Education, Government of India invites Expression of Interest (EOI) from interested Authors/Critics and Faculty Members of HEIs (higher education institutions) for writing original textbooks in 12 Indian languages for the undergraduate (UG) level courses in the different subjects of Arts, Science, and Social Sciences.”
Authors, critics, and faculty members from HEIs who wish to contribute to this initiative are required to submit their acceptance to the Commission and provide their Expression of Interest (EOI) by filling out the form accessible at the following link: https://forms.gle/cABbivfPB6hvfFhB9. The deadline for submission is January 30, 2024, midnight.
This move by the UGC is aligned with the objectives of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasizes the promotion of Indian languages in the educational landscape. In a similar vein, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had previously instructed affiliated schools to adopt NCERT books, now available in 22 Indian languages, further reinforcing the commitment to linguistic diversity in education.