Now, primary textbooks in Awadhi, Bhojpuri in Uttar Pradesh

LUCKNOW: To improve the grasping ability of children in UP, the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) is all set to introduce textbooks in local dialects, including Bhojpuri and Awadhi.
The move, officials said, will achieve twin objectives. One, it will give due importance to colloquial tongues, thereby helping in their preservation. Two, it will “increase the learning outcome” in children using language as a medium.
As a pilot project, the textbooks — released by basic education minister Satish Dwivedi at a review meeting on Wednesday — will be introduced “in a day or two” in classes I and II in Mathura, Gorakhpur, Lalitpur and Barabanki districts.They have been drafted in four dialects — Braj, Bhojpuri, Bundelkhandi and Awadhi.
“The idea is to help students learn lessons in a language that is easy for them to understand. We have got 15 books printed in each language. In each of the four districts, 10 schools have been identified where these will be introduced,” said Ajay Singh, joint director of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, who is spearheading the project.
Officials explained that in UP, teachers from one region (say Meerut) are posted in another region (say Gorakhpur). So, they are often unable to reach out to students. “To break the language barrier, we have transformed books from standard Hindi to local dialects. The content remains unchanged,” Singh said.
The books also have a special feature to help in teaching. Teachers who are not at home with the local dialect can scan a QR code for each lesson. This allows them to play an audio of the lesson for students who can listen and understand.
Class I children in primary schools in UP have one textbook, called Colorav. It has three sections — English, Hindi and mathematics. In Class II, there are two textbooks, one for Hindi and English (also called Colorav), and the other for mathematics.
The new textbooks in local dialects are being given the name ‘Sahaj’. Officials said only the Hindi sections in the books had been translated.