RETHINKING TEACHER EDUCATION IN CONTEXT TO NEP 2020 AND MULTILINGUAL CLASSROOMS

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 represents a transformative shift in India's educational landscape, particularly concerning multilingual education. As a comprehensive framework, NEP 2020 advocates for the integration of mother tongue or regional language instruction in the early years of education, underscoring the policy's commitment to preserving India's rich linguistic diversity while enhancing educational outcomes. Multilingual education is grounded in the belief that children learn best when they are taught in their mother tongue or a language familiar to them. Therefore, this idea has been strongly recommended by the policy which promotes the use of the mother tongue or regional language as the medium of instruction up to Grade 5, and whereverpossible, up to Grade 8. This approach was taken up to improve comprehension, cognitive development, and academic performance by aligning the language of instruction with the students' linguistic background. Furthermore, NEP 2020 also encourages the learning of additional languages, promoting multilingualism as a means to foster cognitive flexibility, cultural understanding, and global competencies. In this paper, the authors attempted to explore the core elements of NEP 2020 relevant to multilingual classrooms, the anticipated impacts on educational practice, and the challenges and opportunities presented by its implementation. In addition to many benefits, the authors observed a few challenges in its implementation in Indian classrooms. One major obstacle was the lack of qualified teachers who can instruct in a multilingual environment and are fluent in multiple languages. Another major barrier worth mentioning was the development and distribution of teaching materials in multiple languages. The authors of this paper emphasize how critical it is to reconsider and consistently work on the curriculum of teacher preparation programs in order to incorporate the high demand aspects of today’s educational scenario. In conclusion, the authors strongly believe that by overcoming the challenges and taking advantage of the opportunities presented by NEP 2020, India can progress toward a more successful and equitable educational system that honors and builds upon its rich linguistic heritage.