Lagatar24 Desk
Ranchi, Feb 21:Education in tribal language is to begin at the primary level for the first time in the state. It is necessary for the development of tribal languages or any language that it be studied from the elementary level at schools. At present, however, there are a small number of students studying tribal and regional languages in the state.
A total of 17 languages are taught in the state at the matriculation level. These include Hindi, English, Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian. Out of 20 tribal and regional languages notified district wise in the state, 12 are taught at the matriculation level. Including all these languages, an average of 60 to 65 thousand students appear in matriculation every year. Almost half of these students are students of Urdu language.
In case of the matriculation examination of the year 2021, a total of 4.33 lakh candidates appeared in the examination wherein 62,545 candidates appeared for the recognized tribal and regional languages at the district level. Of these, the maximum number of students including 29,011 candidates were Urdu students. Among the languages taught at the matriculation level, the number of students for some languages is less than one thousand. The number of students studying these languages at the intermediate level is reduced further.
Different languages have been recognized as regional and tribal languages in different districts of the state. Eight languages including Magahi, Bhojpuri, Angika, Bhumij, Malto, Birhori, Birjiya and Asur are not taught among those who have been recognized in the district level appointment.
In the state, Khadia has been recognized as a tribal language in four districts including Ranchi, Khunti, Gumla and Simdega, Khadia has been recognized as a district level language. Last year, only 59 candidates appeared in the Khadia language examination for the matriculation examination. More than 50 thousand students appear in the matriculation examination from these districts.
At a Matriculation level, the maximum numbers of students include students of Santhali. There were 11224 examinees that attended the Santhali examination. Meanwhile, Santhali is recognized as a tribal language in 17 out of 24 districts in the state.
Odia has also been recognized as a regional language in the state including West Singhbhum, East Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan. However, only 297 candidates from across the state appeared for the Odia language matriculation examination.
Every year more than four lakh candidates appear in the matriculation examination in the state, but the number of examinees in eight tribal and regional languages is less than five thousand. The languages in which the number of examinees in the year 2021 was less than five thousand include Bangla, Mundari, Oriya, Panchpargania, Nagpuri, Kurmali and Khadiya.
