"The examination will also be conducted in regional languages where entry to State Engineering Colleges is decided based on an examination (conducted in regional language). State language of States who admit students based on the #JEE(Main) will also be included under this," Pokhriyal tweeted.
Currently, the JEE Main examinations are conducted in only three languages - English, Hindi and Gujarati.
Further explaining the decision, Pokhriyal said that the decision was taken after Prime Minister Narendra Modi pointed out that top-scoring countries in PISA examination use mother tongue as a medium of instruction. "The decision of JAB will help students comprehend questions better and score higher," the minister said in another tweet.
"We are not against English but the mother tongue as a medium of education would help strengthen Indian languages," the Education Minister said while addressing a webinar on National Education Policy 2020 recently.
As per the announcement, NTA will now add more languages to this list for the exams starting 2021. The ministry, however, has not announced the names of the languages.
As of now, only the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) is conducted in regional languages. Apart from English and Hindi, NEET exams are also held in Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.
Recently the Central government faced immense flak over the changes it brought under NEP 2020. These changed disregarded English as a preferred medium of instruction in schools and colleges. The protests were majorly witnessed in the southern and northeastern parts of the country where Hindi was difficult to be understood by all.
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