Step to promote Odia under NEP: Odisha Minister Suryabanshi Suraj on IGNOU’s new diploma course launch

Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India: Odisha Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj on Monday expressed happiness over the launch of Indira Gandhi National Open University’s (IGNOU) Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education (DECE) in Odia. The minister said most of the enrolled students are anganwadi workers or play school teachers, adding that the move is in line with the New Education Policy (NEP) to promote learning in the mother tongue. He said the course was inaugurated by Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida on August 18. “Most of the enrolled students are anganwadi workers or play school teachers. Under the New Education Policy, this is our step towards promoting education in the mother tongue.

We are translating as many course materials in Odia as we can. Our intention is to make higher education more accessible,” Suraj told reporters. He informed that the state government had signed an MoU with IGNOU on June 9, under which the translation of the course material into Odia was to be completed within 100 days. “On June 9, we signed an MoU with IGNOU under which the process of translating the course material in Odia was to be completed in under 100 days.

It was inaugurated today in the presence of Deputy CM Pravati Parida. Almost 31,000 students have enrolled in this course,” he added. IGNOU Vice Chancellor Uma Kanjilal said the introduction of the diploma course in Odia was the first step to make study material available in the language and overcome the language barrier. “This is our first step in making the course material available in the mother tongue. This will help us overcome the language barrier and is aligned with the NEP 2020.

Within two to three months, other major programmes will also be translated into Odia. We plan to translate all the programmes within two years. Next will be undergraduate programmes, followed by postgraduate programmes,” Kanjilal said. The Odia course material and textbooks for the DECE were formally released on Monday by Deputy CM Pravati Parida and Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj. As per the MoU, IGNOU will gradually offer its undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral, diploma, certificate courses, Bachelor of Vocational Studies, Travel and Tourism Management, BBA, MBA, and several other programmes in Odia. Previously, IGNOU offered the DECE in English, Hindi and Tamil. With this launch, Odia has also been added. The DECE is a one-year diploma course, open to students after completion of +2. It focuses on early childhood education, child health and nutrition. Students will be provided with textbooks, audio cassettes, and video tutorials. Both theory and practical components are included to ensure academic as well as hands-on learning. ANI