Nainital: The Nainital district in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand has taken an important step towards preserving and promoting the Kumaoni language. According to officials, the district has become the first in the region where Kumaoni will be taught in government schools. The language will be introduced as a subject in classes 1 to 5 in Hindi from the next academic session. As many as 10,000 academic books have been published by the education department for school children.
KS Rawat, the chief education officer of Nainital, said that Kumaoni language books have not been published in any government or private school in Kumaon. However, as per the instructions of the district magistrate, Dheeraj Singh Garbiyal, 10,000 Kumaoni books have been published to teach Kumaoni to children from classes 1 to 5. These books will be sent to government as well as private schools in the region.
In the new academic session, teachers in government schools will teach Kumaoni to the children from these books. According to education department officials, the books are also being sent to the libraries of the schools. As the Kumaoni language doesn’t have any script of its own, it will be taught in Hindi to make it easier for the children to learn. Rawat added that new teachers won’t be recruited as the existing ones in government schools belong to Kumaon and are fluent in Kumaoni.
This initiative is being started as a pilot project in three blocks of the Nainital district, including Haldwani, Ramnagar, and Kotabag. If the project is successful, it will then be implemented in the entire district. The purpose of teaching Kumaoni is to connect children with their folk language. There will be no examination in Kumaoni.
Dheeraj Singh Garbiyal, the district magistrate of Nainital, said that there is a demand among the people in the region for books in the Kumaoni language. It is essential to connect their language, culture, and tradition with their children. If knowledge of the mother tongue is given along with primary education, it will help children understand and appreciate their culture and traditions better.
Hayat Rawat, the editor of Pahrua, a Kumaoni magazine, said that it is a great initiative of the administration to teach Kumaoni books in schools. This should be implemented not only in Nainital but also in government schools of other districts in Kumaon. In fact, it should be made compulsory in primary school. This demand was also raised in the state-level conference of the Kumaoni language held in Haldwani earlier.
This move to promote the Kumaoni language is an important step towards preserving the linguistic diversity of India. It will help in the preservation and promotion of the rich cultural heritage of the Kumaon region. It is hoped that this initiative will inspire other regions to take similar steps to promote their regional languages and cultures.