Venkaiah Naidu backs UGC chairman's 'local language' push; ‘Its high time to…’

The UCG on Wednesday asked universities to allow students to write exams in local languages even if the course is offered in English medium

Former Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday lauded UGC chairman's "local language" push in university exams, saying "it's high time we shed the colonial legacy".

Former Vice President Venkaiah Naidu(PTI)

The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Wednesday asked universities to allow students to write exams in local languages even if the course is offered in English medium, while arranging evaluators and encouraging the translation of textbooks.

"The UGC Chairman, Prof. Jagadesh Kumar, deserves to be commended for his letter to universities to allow students to write examinations in local languages even if the medium of instruction is English. Promotion of the teaching-learning process in mother tongue is a welcome move," Naidu said in a series of tweets.

"I have always advocated the wider use of one’s mother tongue in education at all levels and am very pleased at this development. It is high time we shed the colonial legacy which had been impeding our all-round socio-economic growth & give equal importance to local languages," he added.

Noting that the academic ecosystem continues to be English medium-centric, the UGC chief had said that once the teaching, learning and assessment are done in local languages, student engagement will gradually increase, leading to an increase in the success rate.

Asked about how students writing in local languages will be evaluated, he said, "This will be possible if the evaluators also know the local language and the university can make the effort to find the evaluators who know the local language."

"The idea is to let the students write the answers in a language that will provide them the opportunity to express easily," Kumar had said.