Ministry of Education Plans Nationwide Writing Competitions to Promote Multilingualism

The emphasis of the meeting was on integrating these efforts into a cohesive framework through collaboration among various stakeholders.

On 28 June 2024, Shri Sanjay Kumar, Secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL) under the Ministry of Education, chaired a pivotal stakeholder consultation meeting. The meeting convened officials from DoSEL, CBSE, NBT, NCERT, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS), SCERTs, and representatives from nine states to discuss the establishment of a unified platform for conducting district, state, and national-level writing competitions in Indian languages.

The emphasis of the meeting was on integrating these efforts into a cohesive framework through collaboration among various stakeholders. Shri Sanjay Kumar highlighted the importance of fostering multilingualism by engaging language experts and leveraging the support of SCERTs in the evaluation process. He outlined plans for schools to host competitions at state and district levels, with winners progressing to the national-level competition organized by CBSE. Additionally, he encouraged collaboration between SCERTs and the National Book Trust (NBT) to curate popular regional language books for inclusion in the National Digital Library.

JS (I&T) Smt Prachi Pandey provided insights into the ongoing initiatives by states and union territories (UTs) concerning reading and writing skills, which will be a central theme in the upcoming mid-July 2024 review meeting. This stakeholder consultation underscores the collaborative effort by DoSEL and its partners to establish a comprehensive platform aimed at nurturing reading and writing abilities in Indian languages across all educational levels.

The initiative seeks to develop methodologies that promote students' proficiency in reading and writing across diverse languages, fostering a culture of multilingualism and encouraging children to express themselves in their native languages. Discussions during the meeting focused on key aspects such as age-appropriate participation, the inclusion of various languages, and the types of writing skills to be emphasized.

Representatives from CBSE and different states presented their successful models of writing competitions and reading initiatives. Notable examples included CBSE's Expression Series, a quarterly event engaging approximately 5 lakh students per quarter, and Andhra Pradesh's Spell Bee Programme, conducted at multiple levels across selected states. Other initiatives showcased were Chhattisgarh's Sidhi Programme, focusing on tribal languages, Assam's Gunotsav aimed at enhancing elementary education quality, Uttar Pradesh's storytelling competition "Kahani Sunane Ki Pratiyogita" for teachers, Tamil Nadu's two-week reading marathon "Ilam-Thedi Kalvi" in collaboration with Google, and Karnataka's Nali Kali Programme targeting foundational literacy through children's libraries.

The collaborative efforts and best practices shared at the consultation meeting underscored a commitment to enhancing educational outcomes and promoting linguistic diversity across India. This initiative not only aims to strengthen students' language skills but also to provide a platform for celebrating cultural diversity through language expression.