SSC Looking Forward To Conduct Competitive Exams In 22 Indian Languages: Union Minister Jitendra Singh

The union minister said that the NEP 2020 is transforming the Indian education system by encouraging regional languages in primary as well as higher education.

SSC to conduct competitive exams in 22 regional Indian languages ( Image Source :facebook.com/drjitendras )

Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions of India, Dr Jitendra Singh has said that the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) will conduct competitive entrance examinations in the country in 22 different languages, in the future. addressing the valedictory session of the 'Bharatiya Bhasha Utsav: Technology & Bharatiya Bhasha Summit' in New Delhi, the union minister further said that the move to conduct central recruitment exams in 22 different languages is aimed at providing a just and language-neutral playing field to aspirants who appear every year in various examinations conducted by the commission. 

The minister further said that following the direction from PM Modi, SSC Exams are presently being conducted in 13 different languages from this year onwards, which include 11 different regional languages besides English and Hindi. Prior to 2014, candidates appearing in competitive exams conducted by the SSC had no other option and were compelled to choose either Hindi or English as their medium of exam. Before 2014, even the translation from English to Hindi was not very clean and up to mark, which placed several students in the disadvantaged position, he further added. 

Dr Jitendra Singh further said the SSC looks forward to conducting exams in all the 22 languages that have been listed under the eighth schedule of the constitution, as per a Personnel Ministry statement. He further noted that along with NEET and JEE, UGC Exams are also being conducted in 12 languages at the moment, in a bid to enhance youth participation from all regions in national level exams, while also encouraging their regional languages. Significant effort has been made in the past nine years of the Narendra Modi government to promote regional Indian languages, and now PM Modi has also stressed upon providing medical and engineering education in the country in regional languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Gujarati and Bengali, the union minister further said. 

The minister further also underlined that how the NEP (National Education Policy) is transforming the Indian Education System by paving way for Mother Tongue in primary, technical and medical education, and allowing it to match and compete with global standards. 

"Twenty-nine institutes across 10 states in seven regional languages namely Bengali, Hindi, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu have been identified for imparting engineering education in one or more disciplines," Singh said. He said today, around 40 million Indians are in higher education, which is more than that in the US and EU combined, and the ambitious NEP seeks to double that number. "NEP-2020 supplements the start-up ecosystem with the promise to open new career and entrepreneurship opportunities for students and youth in India," Dr Jitendra Singh was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.