Bharatiya Bhasha Summer Camp

Introduction

India is a multilingual country. As per the Census 2011, there are 1369 Mother Tongues, Languages and Dialects in India, of which 121 are recognized as languages. These languages are further divided into 22 scheduled languages and 99 non-scheduled languages. This linguistic diversity and the affinity between the speakers of many languages in any part of the country strengthens the emotional bonds, cultural harmony and all-encompassing unity of India. The beauty of the diversity is nurtured and sustained by the strength of the unity since times immemorial.

Given the linguistic diversity, majority of children India come across more than one language, going upto three or four languages, in their life, either in their neighbourhood or community or with peers. They may feel a desire to learn a language to appreciate cultural efforts, films, songs etc or they may face challenges in communicating with neighbours or peers in that language and wish to learn the same. At a younger age, children are able to learn the languages fast and are able to gain facility in communicative skills quickly.

The National Education Policy 2020 highlights multilingualism and visualises Indian languages as a great tool for national unity. It suggests that the students of the country should be encouraged to learn more Indian languages and their importance under the ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ initiative. NEP-2020 asserts “Every student in the country will participate in a fun project/activity on ‘The Languages of India’, sometime in Grades 6-8, such as, under the ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’ initiative. In this project/activity, students will learn about the remarkable unity of most of the major Indian languages, starting with their common phonetic and scientifically-arranged alphabets and scripts, their common grammatical structures, their origins and sources of vocabularies from Sanskrit and other classical languages, as well as their rich inter-influences and differences. They will also learn what geographical areas speak which languages, get a sense of the nature and structure of tribal languages, and learn to say commonly spoken phrases and sentences in every major language of India and also learn a bit about the rich and uplifting literature of each (through suitable translations as necessary). Such an activity would give them both a sense of the unity and the beautiful cultural heritage and diversity of India and would be a wonderful icebreaker their whole lives as they meet people from other parts of India. This project/activity would be a joyful activity and would not involve any form of assessment.”

The technological intervention and the possible AI disruption in different walks of life have underscored the importance of Indian languages, have made learning many languages easy and translation from one Indian language to another easier. Learning any Bharatiya Bhasha will ignite the desire to learn another Bharatiya Bhasha. Students learn or acquire many Indian languages very easily. Learning one more Indian language is not like learning entirely a new language since there are many common or similar features in most of the Indian languages like sound system, sentence structure, underlying grammar, vocabulary, etc. Learning a new language is like entering into a new world of knowledge and a new cultural galaxy. Teachers, too, may need to learn additional Indian language like a local / regional language as it will help them communicate better with students. They would also be a role model and motivation for students to learn one more Indian language and become a multilingual citizen.

Knowledge of many Indian languages, language spoken in other States in particular, would help the students in the future job market anywhere in India. “Learn One More Indian Language” is the need of the hour, nationwide.

Keeping all the above in view, it is proposed to hold ‘Bharatiya Bhasha Summer Camp’ in all the schools across India.

Objectives

• To promote multilingualism among school students in a joyful and engaging manner.
• To help students experience the linguistic and cultural unity of Indian languages.
• To enable students to acquire basic conversational skills in an Indian language of their choice other than their mother tongue
• To foster mutual respect, cultural appreciation, and national integration through language learning.

Modalities of Organizing the Camp

The Summer Camps are an initiative for all schools of the country. While NCERT / State Samagra Shiksha (SPD) / SCERTs / DIETs would be responsible for govt / govt aided schools in the State / UT, the summer camps are to be held in CBSE schools also, including Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidyalayas, EMRS, Defence schools, etc etc. CBSE schools may use / adapt the resources being developed by NCERT, however, the supervision, monitoring and data collection / compilation (including KVs, NVs, etc) activities would have to be undertaken by CBSE and reported to DSEL, Ministry of Education, GoI.

Suggestive Day-wise Activities

Expected Outcomes

• The students and teachers across the country will learn another Indian language of a different linguistic family.
• A powerful message of affinity and unity through languages will go across the country.

The Summer Camp is a transformative step in strengthening India’s linguistic heritage and fostering multilingual citizens. The Annexure-I details the 7 days suggestive programme which can be tweaked according to the local context, languages, and resource availability. The creative side of language should be explored to understand the subtitle nuances. It represents a convergence of education, culture, integration, and innovation offering a platform for students to celebrate languages and embrace unity in diversity. With the collective efforts of schools, teachers, education boards, and language institutions, this initiative can blossom into a landmark program in India’s educational landscape, inspiring generations of young learners to say with pride: “I learnt one more Indian language and discovered a new India.”