Do you need English education for Engineering? IIT-Jodhpur Director answers

Last year, IIT Jodhpur became the first among the 23 IITs to offer first-year engineering students the option of studying in Hindi. In its inaugural year, 116 students opted for the Hindi section, while 96 have enrolled this year.

In these classes, the medium of instruction is Hindi, though textbooks and assessments continue to be in English. From the second year onward, students are required to transition to English-medium courses. The same faculty member teaches both the Hindi and English sections separately on the same day. Currently, Hindi is the only regional language offered, even though the institute admits students from across the country.

Last week, in line with the National Education Policy 2020, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan asked the IITs at the IIT Council meeting to introduce regional languages as the medium of instruction. The decision, however, remains with the Senate of each IIT.

IIT Jodhpur Director Avinash Kumar Agarwal discussed the institute’s initiative, challenges, and the way forward.

Does IIT Jodhpur plan on extending the initiative to more languages?

We need to look at the language that is spoken within 500-700 km. This is the Hindi belt. So, we don’t plan to extend it to another language. There are 23 IITs. Of course, they have a pan-India character, but they are dominantly local.

It would make much more sense if each IIT adopted the local language instead of everyone defaulting to Hindi. That way, we will be able to cater to more students. In Jodhpur, we have around 600 students, of which 80 per cent come from the Hindi belt and the remaining 20 percent are from other parts. For them, there is the English section.

Would you extend the initiative beyond the first year?

Ideally, I would like it. But practically, it is very challenging. Once you offer education in another language, you need double the number of professors, the classrooms, and complicated class scheduling logistics. In the first semester, there are only two sections. So, the logistics are easy. They are only doing physics, chemistry, math, and compulsory courses which are common to all. Once it comes to the department level, which starts from the second year, it becomes 14 sections.

Fourteen will then become 28 (when divided by language). Out of 80 students in a class, five may be interested in Hindi, and 75 in English because students may have already become comfortable (in English). Logistically, it doesn’t make sense for us.

I see a future where slowly the ‘matrubhasha’ initiative will increase. We kill the innovation of our students right in school, where we stress that the medium of education will be English. A lot of their effort goes into translation. By the time they have understood one sentence, the train has moved forward four stations. They’re not able to even ask questions. There’s this fear that if I say something in broken English, peers will think I don’t know English.

If you had the resources, do you see a need to allow for engineering education in regional languages across all four years?

Ideally, that is what should happen in the next 20 years. Large economies teach professional courses in their mother tongue – USA, England, France, Switzerland, Japan, Korea, China, Russia, and Germany. Of course, we should speak English because we should be connected to the international community. So, English augmentation classes can be provided. But to become a good engineer, working in India, do you necessarily need English education? The answer is no.

Our potential is not being realised because we try to impart education in a language that is not native to us. This is one of the reasons our innovation capacity is being held back. The language issue is not emotional; it’s scientific. If we make the change now, 30 years from today we may start winning Nobels.

Do you think engineering education in regional languages might affect job prospects?

It is going to make job prospects better because these students are going to be better engineers. They will be able to think originally, and deeper. 

Since one teacher will have to take both classes, were provisions made to hire faculty for this initiative?

No. One teacher will teach – on the same day, the same topic will be taught to both the sections. One common concern is that instruction in a regional language might be inferior. To address that, the same teacher teaches the same concept in both languages. The question papers, quizzes, and assignments are identical, so the quality of instruction remains the same. This is a little bit of an extra load for the teacher. So, we financially compensate for teaching an extra class. 

Are there challenges in providing learning material in Hindi?

This problem was there five years ago, but not anymore. AICTE has a couple of books. Now you have all these translation tools. Technology will be a big enabler in this space.

Do you feel the need to make provisions for the 20% of students who may not be from the Hindi belt?

Now that the Ministry has advised all IITs, it may be possible in the future for a student here who wants to study in Malayalam to attend classes online from IIT Palakkad. But this is something the IIT system will have to evolve. At present, there is no such provision, though it may become a reality in the future.

Have there been any concerns or hesitation among students and parents?

IITs are premium institutes. Everybody who comes to an IIT is a topper in their school. It’s not that everybody is struggling. We are living in a country where if you learn French and German that’s fashionable, if you learn Tamil that’s down-market. We have this gulam mansikta (slave mentality), but now things are changing. People will slowly start taking pride in their own languages.

Ultimately students are interested in grades, and their grades really improve because they understand the subject better. For them it’s an enabling provision. There’s some peer pressure, maybe in the hostels, people think if you’re taking the Hindi section, maybe you’re weak in English. It’s okay; it’s better to recognise a problem and address it, rather than hide it.

What prompted the initiative?

Some students struggle to understand English, and for them, the transition is overwhelming — a new environment, new responsibilities, and on top of that, a language barrier in class. It becomes extremely difficult to adjust. This is one of the reasons why some students drift towards drugs, fall into depression, or even develop suicidal tendencies. These issues are all connected. This initiative, in a way, is meant to reduce that stress.

It is not even Hindi medium in the true sense; it is conversational language. Language should not become a barrier to understand engineering.

In 2023-24, students who did class 12 in the Hindi medium, their average CPI (cumulative performance index) was close to 5-5.5. This year (2024-25), it’s close to 8.

We wanted to take the initiative because IITs often hesitate to implement Bharatiya Bhasha. Many people think it is ‘down-market’ or question how engineering can be taught in Indian languages. But our focus is clear—we need to make them engineers, not scholars of language.

We are not anti-English. In fact, we work to improve students’ skills in English. We never insist on translating technical terms into Hindi. Acceleration doesn’t need to become twaran; velocity is just velocity. The purpose is not to replace technical terminology but to remove the difficulty in grasping concepts.