Kolkata: Pema Khandu, the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh has announced that the state will now have books on 3rd language for classes VI, VII and VIII. This milestone in the educational curriculum of Arunachal Pradesh was attained by the active involvement of the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and Community Based Organization (CBO) of several ethnic tribes of Arunachal. The Chief Minister has also acknowledged their work via tweet. “I congratulate SCERT & CBOs of Nyishi, Wancho, Galo, Tagin, Kaman, Taraon, Idu & Tangsa community for the good work,” read the tweet.

CM Pema Khandu stated that this step has been taken to preserve the regional languages of Arunachal and thereby to provide protection to their local tribal languages. The official language of Arunachal Pradesh is English whereas most schools teach Hindi as a second language. The concept of a third language has therefore been introduced for promoting their local tribal languages amongst the newer generations. This initiative by the state intends at “saving language and preserving culture” of Arunachal Pradesh and its local tribal languages.