Sikshasandhan, an organisation working for the improvement of standard of education in the State, on Thursday urged the State Government to implement the Multilingual Education (MlE) Policy in letter and spirit for the betterment of elementary education in Odisha. Discussing the issue at a seminar organised by the Sikshasandhan and the Oxfam here, eminent linguist Dr Debi Prasanna Pattanayak said, “If we want to ensure education for the tribal children, mother tongue based education and multilingual education must be ensured.”
Sikshasandhan member-secretary Anil Pradhan said the State Government has framed a policy regarding mother tongue based multi lingual education on July 1 last year. It has many positive provisions and proposals to streamline multilingual education in the schools of the State, but the pity lies in the fact that the policy has not been implemented in its true letter and spirit, he added.
Pradhan said the State should create awareness among the tribal people about the policy to attract tribal kids towards education. About 110 participants from different civil society organisations, individuals working on the issue within and outside the State and concerned persons from the Government Departments attended the programme.