‘Reshaping education sector’: Shah unveils MBBS books in Hindi
In a first-of-its-kind move, Union home minister Amit Shah released the textbooks in Hindi of three subjects – biochemistry, anatomy and medical physiology – as part of National Education Policy 2020.
Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday unveiled textbooks in Hindi for MBBS students as part of the Madhya Pradesh government’s ambitious project to impart medical education in the concerned language.
In a first-of-its-kind move, Shah released the textbooks in Hindi of three subjects – biochemistry, anatomy and medical physiology – as part of National Education Policy 2020 and called it an important day in history. Engineering, polytechnic and law education will also soon be imparted in Hindi, he announced.
“This day will be written in history in golden letters. This moment marks the revival of the education sector in the country,” he said during the launch at Lal Parade Ground here.
“This is a moment of restructuring of the education sector in the country. I feel proud in saying that chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s government is the first who implemented the New Education Policy (NEP) effectively in the state. Within six months, engineering and polytechnic courses will also be launched in Hindi,” he added.
The Centre’s NEP supports offering professional education in regional languages.
Shah said that in the 21st century, some forces adopted the “brain drain” theory (migration of skilled professionals), but Prime Minister Modi has changed it to the brain gain” theory.
“Dadabhai Naoroji had put forward a theory on draining of wealth as foreigners were taking the wealth of India to their country. Now, the foreigners are trying to brain drain our youth by imposing education in their language to end the power of thinking, understanding and expressing. By introducing education in mother tongue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has turned it into ‘brain gain’,” he said.
The process of thinking takes place in one’s own mother tongue, Shah said, as he quoted former South African president Nelson Mandela – “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.”
The students of the country will not have any inferiority complex about not knowing the English language and they can study with pride in their own language, the Union minister said. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks in Hindi on international platforms to send across a message to the world. This boosts the confidence of the young people in India,” he said.
Shah said 10 states have begun translating books of engineering courses in regional languages. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Kerala and Gujarat are among the states that have begun the initiative.
“There is going to be an educational revolution due to the restoration of the pride of our languages through the NEP of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and making arrangements for technical, medical and legal studies (to be available in Hindi) in the country,” he said.
“Not only imparting education but we will also make arrangements for research and development in regional languages. We have started conducting Joint Entrance Examinations, National Eligibility Entrance Test and exams for University Grants Commission in 12 languages and Common Entrance Exam in 13 languages,” he said.
Chief minister Chouhan, who also spoke on the occasion, said the launch has brought a “new dawn” in the lives of poor children.
“Today Amit Shah has brought a new dawn in the lives of children of the poor, who could get admission to medical colleges but were caught in the web of English and many times could not pass exams and left their studies,” he said.
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“People used to mock this decision but by translating the books in Hindi, we proved to them that nothing is impossible. A team led by medical education minister Vishwas Sarang and comprising doctors have done some great work,” he added.
The move will bring a big change in the advancement of education in Hindi medium, Sarang said.
Doctors, however, expressed apprehensions over the idea of translating MBBS books.
“Just translating three books is not enough to say that MBBS can be taught in Hindi. A medical student studies so many books to clear the concept and here we are just confining their knowledge to three books. I know this is a continuous process but it should be very fast otherwise many students will be affected,” a senior doctor said, seeking anonymity.
Meanwhile, Congress MLA Kunal Chaudhary hit out at the state government and pointed out how its efforts to begin engineering courses in Hindi did not yield results.
“They have just translated three books and have made a huge event out of it. They have lied to the Union minister (Shah) by saying that they will begin engineering in Hindi in the next six months. In reality, they had already started engineering in Hindi last year and it failed,” he said.
Responding to Chaudhary’s remarks, BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said: “Congress leaders have a habit of criticising everything. This initiative will benefit the poor students from rural areas, especially tribal. Time will tell that history was created today.”
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