The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) has initiated a five-day workshop aimed at reviewing, refining, and standardising technical terminology related to testing and evaluation practices across six Indian languages. This initiative aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework 2023. The programme commenced on Monday and will continue until May 22.
Workshop Objectives and Significance
The workshop focuses on Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Odia, Hindi, and Telugu languages. Its primary goal is to create a standardised set of terms that will support teachers, curriculum developers, translators, researchers, and learners. By improving the quality of testing and evaluation practices, the initiative aims to strengthen multilingual education and promote the use of Indian languages in teaching, learning, and assessment as envisioned under NEP 2020.
Participants and Inauguration
The workshop has brought together linguists, educationists, translators, and academic reviewers from universities and institutions across India. During the inaugural session, PR Dharmesh Fernandez, Deputy Director of CIIL, highlighted the critical need for linguistically consistent and academically reliable terminology. He emphasised that such standardisation is essential to foster inclusive educational practices. Fernandez also underscored CIIL’s ongoing role in promoting multilingual academic resources and language-based research, which are central to the institute’s mission.
Expected Outcomes
The standardised terminology developed during this workshop is expected to have a lasting impact on the educational landscape. It will facilitate clearer communication in testing and evaluation, reduce ambiguities, and enhance the reliability of assessments across different Indian languages. This initiative is particularly significant given the increasing emphasis on mother-tongue instruction and the need for robust assessment tools in regional languages.
As NEP 2020 advocates for a multilingual approach to education, this workshop represents a crucial step toward operationalising that vision. The collaborative effort involving experts from diverse linguistic backgrounds ensures that the terminology will be both comprehensive and culturally appropriate.
