IIT-Madras, NPTEL launch technical courses in vernacular languages

Premier research institute IIT Madras and the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) have launched technical courses in vernacular languages across the country, a top official said on Wednesday.

The NPTEL, funded by the Ministry of Education, has formed a joint venture with various IITs to offer over 700 courses for certification across 22 disciplines.

As many as 174 technical courses, including programming, data structures, and Algorithms using Python software, were translated into various languages, including Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu.

The objective is to help learners who have completed their school in regional languages and are transitioning to English for taking up technical education, IIT Madras said in a press release today.

”NPTEL-IIT Madras is adopting innovative ways to make the translated content available to learners in India. They include the use of subtitles, video texts, transcripts, and audio tracks among others,” said Professor Abhijit P Deshpande, faculty, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Madras.

”The key objective is to build capacity in India in high-quality translation of science-engineering content,” Deshpande, who is also the NPTEL Translation Coordinator, said.

As of date, over 20,000 hours of video content across 244 courses offered by NPTEL including 163 engineering, have been successfully translated, the release said.