Mother tongue-based quality education will help the country restore its past glory and stride ahead as was the case in ancient India, said Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Addressing a Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony between All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and International Organization of Scientific Research (IOSR) here on Monday to prepare engineering course textbooks in Odia language and promote diploma and B.Tech course in the regional language, Pradhan said it is essential for students to get such facilities.

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It will help Odia students understand the subject better and do well in future, he observed.

The Union Education Minister said one of the focal points of the New Education Policy 2020 is to promote mother tongue-based education. In 15 years from now, Odisha will be celebrating 100 years of its formation as a separate state on the basis of language.

The glorious past of the state shows us how architectural marvels like Konark were built with scientific precision. The State has several such monuments depicting the mathematical genius during those times and even how the sailors traded with distant south Asian nations. It was a thriving progressive economy, he noted.

The strength of mother tongue-based education gets reflected in the achievements of the past, he said. It gives self-confidence, instills dignity by achieving self-sufficiency, he added.

Pradhan went on to give examples of Germany, France, and Japan to drive home his point.

The engineering course in Odia language will surely help local students to do well and become excellent confident professionals, he said while lauding the effort of IOSR and AICTE.

Prof. Anil Dattatraya Sahasrabudhe, Chairman All India Council for Technical Education, retired diplomat Abasar Behuria, Director IIT Kharagpur Prof V Tiwari, Director IIT Bhubaneswar Prof R V Raja Kumar were present at the MoU signing ceremony.

Earlier during the day, Pradhan attended a ‘joining ceremony’ at the BJP party office where former minister Anjali Behera of the BJD was inducted to the BJP along with several others.