How are regional languages reclaiming space in higher education?

As globalization deepens and English continues to reign supreme in the hallways of academia, the reemergence of regional languages in higher education illustrates a historical moment. The reestablishment of parts of universities, colleges, and research institutions by regional languages shows that we are reclaiming our culture, our beliefs, and our rights to academic space—language diversity is valued, knowledge is being made available to new bodies of knowledge, and an alternative to a single medium of academic currency is being established. Although we can attribute the process to policy changes, socio-political movements, pedagogical changes, and renewed cultural pride, we must acknowledge the ever-growing number of people who can read and write in more than one language, both regional and global; their regional languages are taking shape through higher education.

RECLAIMING ROOTS 

The role of language in education is more than just a vehicle for communication. It builds identity, shapes cognitive development, and constraints access to knowledge and opportunities. For decades, perhaps centuries, and especially in post-colonial contexts like India, the inherently unequal workings of higher education have positioned dominant global languages, mainly English, as hegemonic. What English has accomplished is notable from functional and economic perspectives, and while this language and culture shift reached wider segments of the population, regional languages and cultures have been alienated, and traditional and local cultures and systems have been overlooked. An important shift has occurred; regional languages are slowly carving out space in higher education settings. The rebirth of language, enriched by technological advancements, policy changes, and deeper cultural awakening, in academia is transforming the institutional landscape.

LINGUISTIC HIERARCHIES IN ACADEMIA 

During the colonial period, formal or institutional language dominance was established as English, French, and Portuguese increasingly defined formal education systems across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The British Raj in India specified the medium of instruction as English to establish a group of intermediaries who would assist in colonial rule. This created a language hierarchy that valorized English as the means of academic advancement and educational prestige, while the regional languages informed informal education or primary education.

After independence, regional languages remained steeped in educational disparity; English established and sustained its dominance over higher educational institutions, mainly owing to its global utility and association with elite status. Therefore, despite being spoken by millions of people, regional languages were limited to the margins of academia. This created another linguistic divide within higher education that served to sustain social inequalities, limited educational access for those who did not speak English, and produced a sense of cultural inferiority.

India, like many multilingual nations, has a tradition of accepting linguistic diversity. Ancient Indian educational institutions, for example, Nalanda and Takshashila, operated in contexts where regional languages and styles were used to share language, literature, and knowledge across the cultural context of India—for instance, we can observe Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, and other regional dialects as languages used in ancient Indian learning.

 With the colonial period, with regard to British rule, English began to emerge as a dominant educational language and to attract a large disproportionate amount of attention over Sanskrit and regional dialects. Since independence, although the Constitution of India recognized 22 scheduled languages, there remains a dominant academic human capital reliance on English (as that language of the educational elite).

The Winds of Change: Policy Support & Constitutional Mandates

One of the significant catalysts for the resurgence of regional languages in higher education is policy change. In India, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 represents a major political reform. The NEP articulates an aggressive policy that supports mother tongues and regional languages to be a primary medium of instruction at all levels of education, including higher education. The policy outlines the need for more bilingual universities, how to write learning materials in vernaculars, and teacher training in multilingual contexts.

Policy reform is one of the most powerful catalysts for this change. In India, the NEP 2020 has given a policy framework and direction for mother tongue and regional language instruction at all levels of education, including higher education. The NEP strongly emphasizes providing multilingual options for students primarily during their foundational and undergraduate years in higher education.

The New Awakening: Language as a Tool for Inclusion and Equity

The resurgence of regional languages in postsecondary education is a sociolinguistic, social-political, and educational phenomenon that embraces inclusion and democracy. Language is a powerful tool of empowerment; when students have access to education in their mother tongue or a regional language, they can have fewer barriers to understanding, expression, and critical engagement.

In multilingual states like India, Nigeria, and Ethiopia, regional language educational modalities are increasingly recognized as essential to inclusion. When students from diverse backgrounds—especially those from rural and marginalized communities—have the opportunity to learn in the language they express their concepts, they become more inclusive opportunities in higher education because they are more equitable and accessible and more culture/language respectful to the communities they represent.

Challenges on the Road Ahead 

The momentum is undeniable, but there are still significant barriers to address. The most daunting is the lack of scholarship and standardized terminology in regional languages, particularly in science, law, engineering, and medicine. To translate complex theories or technical jargon into languages with smaller academic lexicons will mean more work for linguistic and subject matter experts.

There is also a lack of trained faculty to teach more developed subjects in regional languages. i.e., classification. Equally overpowering is the social conditioning by parents, employers, and, most sadly, students themselves overwhelmingly associating English-medium methods of education with having superior job prospects. There will need to be not just change, but a cultural shift.

There is also institutional inertia and bureaucracy, which will slow its formulation; e.g., there may be some reluctance by universities to change their curriculum or others required to retrain instructors. Moreover, even with funding available, in order to publish books, including textbooks, journals, and online lessons/lessons in regional languages, it could significantly limit the publication in regional languages.

Technological Enablers: Connecting the Language Divide

The emergence of digital technologies has been critical to the revival of regional languages, and now with e-learning facilitation, artificial intelligence, and machine translation, we can offer educational courses in more languages than before.

Government platforms like SWAYAM, DIKSHA, and ePathshala in India are beginning to offer courses and materials in Hindi and other regional languages, allowing more students, including rural and marginalized students, to access educational content. Also, private edtech through facilities or inclusion of regional languages can now reach a wider audience, which includes language options.

Towards a Multilingual Academic Future 

The reclamation of regional languages in higher education is timely and revolutionary. It is an opportunity to address historical inequalities, obliterate elitist structures, and reconceptualize education as an inclusive, democratic endeavor. It is a possibility to say that linguistic plurality is not a liability but a strength, a strength that can enrich academic life, help to create social solidarity, and release new ways of being human.

We need to work together, stakeholders such as governments, universities, educators, students, and civil society, to make this future real by constructing a multilingual academic ecosystem, which involves creating content and translating relevant content, re-working educators’ education, changing perceptions about society, and developing research in and on regional languages.To be successful, this future must be embraced by all stakeholders—students, educators, policymakers, parents, and industry members. The aim is not to collapse English or other global languages but to create an academic ecosystem whereby all regional languages can breathe equally with value, power, and respect. And where every student can dream, think, ask questions, and create in a language that resonates most in their hearts and minds.

The future of higher education is not one that becomes synonymous, but one that embraces multiple realities. When we allow regional languages to reclaim a position of their rightful place in academic inquiry, academia will have the ability to be much more inclusive, much more local, and paradoxically, much more global. 

ARTICLE BY- ANANYA AWASTHI