A five-member ministerial committee established to review the inclusion of regional and local languages in the Jharkhand Teacher Eligibility Test (JTET) has requested district-wise linguistic demographic data before making a final decision on restoring Bhojpuri, Angika, Magahi, and other languages that have been excluded from the examination framework.
First Meeting and Data Request
During its first meeting held on Monday, the panel directed the school education and literacy department to submit a comprehensive report by Friday. The committee was formed earlier this month amid growing dissent within the coalition government over the exclusion of Magahi, Angika, Bhojpuri, and other languages from JTET.
Finance Minister and Congress MLA from Chattarpur, Radha Krishna Kishore, who is convening the panel, stated that the education department was unable to provide the required figures during Monday's meeting. School education secretary informed the panel that data is available with the Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC), which conducts JTET. However, JAC could not supply the details to the education department. Consequently, the panel granted the education department until May 22 to submit a report on the linguistic demographics of teachers and students across the state.
Importance of Linguistic Demographics
A significant population in Jharkhand speaks Magahi, Angika, and Bhojpuri. The report has been sought to establish how many teachers and students use these languages and to decide on their inclusion in the JTET framework, Kishore explained.
A committee member added, The panel has also requested data on the number of aspirants who had opted for Bhojpuri, Magahi, and Angika in the JTET held in 2012 and 2016. This information is expected to help determine why these languages were dropped from the current rules.
Current Exam Timeline
The JAC began accepting applications for the exam on April 21. While the test dates are yet to be announced, the application window will remain open until May 21.
In April, Congress MLA and Rural Development Minister Deepika Pandey Singh submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Hemant Soren seeking the inclusion of Angika, Santhali, Magahi, Maithili, Kudmali, and Kurukh in JTET.
