The Samagra Shiksha wing has allocated ₹882.59 lakh under the MTBMLE scheme for the 2024-25 academic year for engaging native speakers, imparting training and printing textbooks and primers.
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To address language barriers among tribal students, the Andhra Pradesh government, through Samagra Shiksha, is implementing the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTBMLE) programme since 2019-20 academic year.
“The programme is operational in 1454 schools in eight districts, covering six tribal languages of Savara, Sugali, Konda, Koya, Kuvi and Adivasi Oriya. Around 40,000 students from the tribal districts in the State are benefitting from the initiative in the 2024-25 academic year,” Samagra Shiksha State Project Director B. Srinivasa Rao told The Hindu.
He says the programme is being implemented in collaboration with the Tribal Welfare Department, with an aim to reduce dropout rates among tribal students by providing education to them in their native languages.
“The medium of instruction in mother tongue is believed to improve cognitive and reasoning skills and ensure smooth transition of the children to other languages while maintaining proficiency in the mother tongue,” he said.
“Native speakers are appointed to schools where teachers proficient in tribal languages are not available and 1,327 native speakers have been engaged in 1,454 schools in Andhra Pradesh. ”B. Srinivasa Rao Samagra Shiksha State Project Director
The Samagra Shiksha wing of the School Education Department has allocated funds of ₹ 882.59 lakh for the 2024-25 academic year under the MTBMLE scheme and these funds would be utilised for engaging native speakers, imparting them adequate training and for printing and supply of textbooks and primers.
Mr. Srinviasa Rao said native speakers are appointed to schools where teachers proficient in tribal languages are not available. They are identified with the help of the members of the Parent Committees and are engaged for a monthly honorarium of ₹5,000 each and 1,327 native speakers have been engaged in 1454 schools, he said.
Capacity building
The training sessions, which focus on capacity-building of the native speakers on MTBMLE methodologies, are conducted at Youth Training Centres, in collaboration with the Integrated Tribal Development Authority (ITDAs) and Tribal Culture Research and Training Mission (TCR & TM) for improved pedagogical skills of the native speakers, leading to better outcomes.
Mr. Srinivasa Rao says the learners are provided with essential learning material in tribal languages. “We have taken up printing and distribution of 2,22,768 primers for PP1, PP2 and Class 1 students with an aim to enhance the learning experience for early-grade students in their mother tongue,” he said.
Aligning with NEP 2020
The MTBMLE programme implemented by the State government aligns with the Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme, a project under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, designed to promote learning in Indian languages.
This initiative seeks to bridge the linguistic divide that hampers educational equity, by making digital resources available in various regional languages. Under this scheme, students from school to higher education levels will have access to a wide range of textbooks and study material in digital formats, facilitating education to transcend linguistic barriers.
“The University Grants Commission (UGC) is working on developing textbooks at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels in 22 languages in the next three years under Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak scheme by involving experts who can write textbooks in different Indian languages,” UGC Chairman M. Jagadesh Kumar had said at a meeting held in Vijayawada recently.
He invited teachers from across Andhra Pradesh to participate in writing books in Telugu and contribute to the Centre’s initiative.
Published – March 15, 2025 04:28 am IST
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