THE HIGHER and Technical Education department of the state government, jointly with All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Directorate of Technical Education (DTE), on Monday launched 20 textbooks for engineering courses, both Degree and Diploma, in Marathi. Union Minister of State for Education Dr Subhas Sarkar released the textbooks at the event at Mumbai University’s Kalina campus.
All 20 textbooks are for the first year of engineering courses — 11 for diploma, and 9 for degree. The idea is to help students, especially those from Marathi medium schools, understand fundamental concepts better. This is a part of the AICTE effort to provide engineering education in various Indian languages, in line with the new National Education Policy. A team of subject experts and teachers from Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Lonere, in Maharashtra has worked on translation of these textbooks. Soft copies of these textbooks will also be made available on E-Kumbh by AICTE which has engineering textbooks in 11 other Indian languages.
On the current status of engineering education in Marathi in Maharashtra, DTE Director Abhay Wagh said, “Out of 365 polytechnic institutes, 163 have chosen Marathi medium option and most of them are from the interiors or rural parts of Maharashtra. In the case of engineering degree courses, only one — Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering (PCCOE) in Pune is currently offering degree courses in Marathi. We are encouraging more to come forward.”
“We are also working on providing incentives for encouragement,” said state Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil.
Recently, the state medical education department had also announced that MBBS textbooks will be made available in Marathi. AICTE Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar said, “Students need to be trained to become solution-providers.”
Courtesy : The Indian Express