EXPLORING THE ABC OF MULTILINGUAL PEDAGOGY: A CASE STUDY ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY 2020

The promotion of multilingualism in schools exemplifies India’s commitment to fostering cultural integration and inclusive education. National Education Policy 2020 heralds a curricular and pedagogical transmogrification of the Indian education system. The policy is pivoted on multidisciplinary learning and holistic development of the students. It aims to attain inclusivity through multilingual teaching-learning model and integration of technology. The paper is a critical response to the portions related to multilingual teaching in the policy document and furnishes its panoptic view based on the ABC parameter i.e. Advantages, Barriers and Collaboration. It provides a panoptic view of the benefits of multilingualism such as enhanced cognitive development and cultural awareness. It also examines the hinderances in its implementation like linguistic hierarchies and teacher preparedness. As the Indian classroom comprises learners from different socio-linguistic, religious and ethnic backgrounds, a collaborative approach has been proposed so that the results of NEP 2020 can be enhanced. The paper also includes a case study where one group of students was taught exclusively in English while the other received bilingual instructions combining English and their home language(s). The comparative analysis reveals that bilingual or code-mixed instruction enhances conceptual clarity, emotional engagement, and critical understanding. While the conclusion supports the policy’s emphasis on multilingual exposure it also highlights practical challenges that are encountered in the class during the execution. A collaborative approach involving teachers, parents and technology is thus proposed to strengthen multilingual pedagogy and optimize the outcomes envisioned by NEP 2020.