Pradhan launches Sambalpuri language primer

Jharsuguda: Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday unveiled ‘Sambalpuri Bhasha Shiksha', a bilingual primer, and ‘Pathan Parban', a reading skill enhancement initiative, at an event here on Tuesday. The event was organized by the Jharsuguda administration under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan.

The minister said the introduction of the Sambalpuri language primer serves as a new bridge connecting the regional dialect of western Odisha with the state's official language, Odia. He praised the district administration for its innovative efforts to promote mother tongue-based learning in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020.

"The ‘Sambalpuri Bhasha Shiksha' book will help children from the region learn Odia alphabets and phonetics using their native Sambalpuri-Koshali dialect, thereby improving their speech, reading, and writing skills in a relatable way," said Pradhan.

He further emphasised that programmes like ‘Pathan Parban', which encouraged over 56,000 students to read and summarise books in Odia, Hindi and English, are effective in building creative and analytical thinking among students. The campaign ran from Nov 18, 2024, to Jan 26, 2025, engaging students from classes I to XII in four categories.

Pradhan called the launch of the Sambalpuri language primer a historic step in giving due respect to regional languages and urged teachers, parents and school management committees to support the initiative.

Revenue and disaster management minister Suresh Pujari, Bargarh MP Pradeep Purohit and Jharsuguda MLA Tankadhar Tripathy, Jharsuguda district collector Aboli Sunil Naravane, IG (northern range), Himanshu Lal, Jharsuguda SP Smit P Parmar, district education officer Radhakant Gadatia, among others, were present.

The district's consistent progress in education was also recognised, with Jharsuguda surpassing national average outcomes in several metrics. Pradhan applauded the role of all teachers, educators and parents for their support in making the initiative a success.