Preparations for Assamese medium MBBS underway

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Preparations for imparting medical education (MBBS course) in the Assamese medium are at an advanced stage. And MBBS textbooks in Assamese are likely to come out within ten months.

The State Government did form a committee headed by Srimanta Sankardev University of Health Sciences Vice Chancellor Dr Dhrubajyoti Bora to translate medical textbooks and terminologies into Assamese.

According to Health Minister Keshab Mahanta, the committee completed the compilation of an English-to-Assamese medical dictionary-cum-lexicon. "We will soon print Assamese textbooks for medical education," he said.

The minister said that the State Government would have to get the final approval from the Government of India to start the Assamese vernacular medium in the state medical colleges. "We will incorporate around twenty health-related topics in Assamese in class IX and X textbooks. It will help students later while undergoing undergraduate medical courses," he said.

In April this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the study of medical sciences in local languages 'will give wings to the aspirations of the younger who wish to pursue a career in medical sciences'.

The NEP-2020 (New Education Policy-2020) also emphasized local languages in professional higher education. The outcome is that authorities included 13 vernacular languages in NEET (National Entrance Eligibility Test).

After the announcement by the Prime Minister, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma initiated the process in Assam.

Health Department sources said that they initiated the process of introducing the Assamese language in medical sciences. "We need to see many things in the textbooks under preparations. We may need changes in them. We need to train professors to impart teaching in the Assamese language. Students coming from other states will learn in the English medium. We have to carry both English and Assamese medium classes simultaneously. After sorting out all such matters, we will have to introduce the Assamese medium in certain medical colleges in the state in phases," a source in the department said.

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