By Vishu Adhana

New Delhi (India), April 7 (ANI): The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is working on an ambitious plan to make textbooks available for all engineering diploma and degree courses in 12 Indian languages by December 2026, with work already underway across disciplines and academic years.

In an interview with ANI, AICTE Chairman Prof T G Sitharam said that around 600 textbooks for first and second-year engineering diploma and degree courses have already been prepared and uploaded in 12 regional languages. These include Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.

He further said that the work on third and fourth-year textbooks is in progress.

'We have already completed the books for two years--first and second year--both diploma and degree. For the third and fourth years, work is in progress. We have already completed around 40 to 50 books for the third year as well,' he said.

The AICTE is the governing organisation for university-affiliated and autonomous technical institutions.

These textbooks, developed as per AICTE's model curriculum, cover core branches like civil, mechanical, electrical, electronics, and computer science engineering.

'These are state-of-the-art books developed to help students understand concepts in their mother tongue,' Sitharam said.

Each chapter in these books includes unit objectives, outcome-based learning elements, and problem-solving exercises to make the content more structured and goal-oriented, he added.

AICTE is using artificial intelligence to speed up the translation process. 'We are now using our own deep learning model, which can translate a book in about 10 minutes with around 80 percent accuracy. The experts read and correct it,' the Chairman said.

Though there are 22 recognised languages in the Indian constitution, the current focus is on 12 major languages due to funding constraints.

Sitharam said the initiative is not mandatory but designed to provide an option for students who are more comfortable studying in their mother tongue.

'We are not forcing any student to study in a regional language. This is about providing an option. Many students from rural areas are more comfortable studying in their mother tongue,' he added.

When asked about the employability of students who graduate after studying in regional languages, Sitharam acknowledged the challenges but stressed that the government is committed to making this model work.

'The challenge is obviously there. The government will have to run awareness campaigns, tell industries to give these students a chance. For many, English becomes a double burden--first they have to learn the subject, and on top of that, learn a language. If they understand the subject well in their own language, they will be better engineers,' he said.

He added that many countries like Canada and Switzerland allow students to pursue higher education in native languages such as French or German, and India should not be an exception.

Sitharam said this effort will not only empower students in rural and semi-urban areas but also make engineering education more inclusive and accessible. (ANI)