New Delhi: Inclusion of eight foreign languages at the secondary level in schools, approved by the New Education Policy (NEP),2020, is a ‘positive sign’ in respect of spread of multilingualism in the country to help emerge India a major global player. This was observed here on Friday by a host of educationists, including intellectuals, who maintained that ” It is not caste, creed, colour, region or religion-but spread of multilingualism which can ensure India’s overall elevation in the world arena.
” The experts are of the view that India’s target of achieving the 5 trillion dollar economy by 2024-25 is a ‘welcome one’, but hastened to add ” Only economic and military power are not sufficient in the present day world of communication to emerge globally, which can only be supplemented by more and more interactions through as many languages as possible.” Informatively, the NEP, 2020, has introduced eight foreign languages at the secondary level, while the draft NEP in 2019 had approved seven languages.
The foreign languages to be taught at the secondary level now are-Korean, Japanese, Thai, French, German, Spanish,Portuguese and Russian. Korean was not recommended by the draft NEP. The decision was, however, later changed after suggestions were received from the Embassy of the Republic of Korea to India and Korean Cultural Centre, India.