The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has authorised schools to offer education in India languages from pre-primary to Class XII, a significant step towards promoting multilingual education in the country. Currently, the majority of CBSE affiliated schools use English as the medium of teaching, with other schools using Hindi.

The National Education Policy 2020 promotes the use of home language, mother tongue, local language, or regional language as the medium of teaching throughout the education system, beginning with schools.

According to CBSE, the education minister has asked the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) to create new textbooks in 22 scheduled Indian languages, which will be available beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. This month marks the three-year anniversary of NEP, and the new school curriculum is likely to be announced to commemorate the milestone.

According to Joseph Emmanuel, director (academics), the Centre has initiated steps to promote education through Indian languages medium on g while highlighting challenges such as the availability of skilled teachers capable of teaching in multilingual settings, the creation of high-quality multilingual textbooks, and the limited time available, especially in two-shift government schools, as multilingual education demands additional instructional time allocation.

"One of the major steps taken now is the ministry of education's directive to NCERT to prepare new textbooks in 22 scheduled Indian languages." The NCERT has prioritised this important work so that textbooks in the 22 scheduled languages are provided to all students beginning with the next session."

Apart from NCERT school textbooks in Indian languages, CBSE said that with “Higher Education has also started gearing up to produce textbooks through Indian languages, and initiate learning-teaching process through Indian language mediums in addition to English medium, and to conduct examination through Indian languages as well,” along with textbooks in technical education, medical education, vocational education, skill education, law education, already being made available in Indian languages, it is necessary for school education has to become its foundation.

“The approach towards medium of instruction should be a continuity from school education to higher education,” said Emmanuel.