Kumaoni language will now be taught in Nainital government schools from Class 1 to 5 in Hindi from the next academic session, officials said.
As many as 10,000 academic books have been published by the education department for the school children.
KS Rawat, chief education officer, Nainital said the city has become the first district in Kumaon where Kumaoni will be taught in government schools.
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“At present, Kumaoni language books have not been published in any government or private school in Kumaon. According to the instructions of the district magistrate Dheeraj Singh Garbiyal, around 10,000 Kumauni books have been published to teach Kumauni to children from Class 1 to 5”, he said.
He said the education department has already published 10,000 books, which are being sent to the government as well as some private schools.
“In the new academic session, the teachers in the government schools will teach Kumaoni to the children from these books”, he said
According to education department officials, these books are also being sent to libraries of the schools.
{{/usCountry}}According to education department officials, these books are also being sent to libraries of the schools.
{{/usCountry}}As the Kumaoni language doesn’t have any script of its own, it will be taught in Hindi making it easier for the children to learn.
Rawat added that new teachers won’t be recruited as the existing ones in government schools belong to Kumaon and they are fluent in Kumaoni.
“So existing teachers in the schools will teach Kumaoni in the schools,” he said.
Rawat said this initiative is being started as a pilot project in three blocks of the Nainital district including Haldwani, Ramnagar and Kotabag.
“If the project is successful, it will then be implemented in the entire district,” he said.
“The purpose of teaching Kumaoni is to connect children with their folk language. There will be no examination in Kumaoni”, he added.
Dheeraj Singh Garbiyal, district magistrate Nainital said, “There is a demand among the people here for books in the Kumaoni language. It is essential to connect our language, culture and tradition with their language. If knowledge of mother tongue is given along with primary education, it will help children to understand and appreciate their culture and traditions in a better way”
Hayat Rawat, editor of Pahrua, a Kumaoni magazine said, “It is a great initiative of the administration to teach Kumaoni books in schools. This should be implemented not only in Nainital but also in government schools of other districts in Kumaon. In fact, it should be made compulsory in primary school. This demand was also raised in the state-level conference of the Kumaoni language held in Haldwani earlier.”