School Textbooks in Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Urdu, Tamil, and Other Indian Languages

[verdastelo]

This is a post for people who are interested in the languages of India and are looking for some authentic texts for children. I link to the textbooks used in Indian schools. You can use the language textbooks to read literature and subject textbooks to explore how students in India study mathematics, science, programming, or history. Most textbooks are of high-quality, but you might find some oddballs, such as a Tamil Nadu textbook in English that presents the existence of Lemuria as a valid scientific hypothesis and a textbook from Gujarat (I tried to find but failed) which was reported by BBC to compare white people to an undercooked roti, black people to an overbaked roti, and brown people (Indians) to a perfectly baked roti.

NOTES ON LANGUAGES

1. Most states allow students to select a language of instruction.
2. The students can choose between the language of the state, Hindi, or English. Sometimes, they can opt to study in a school where the medium of instruction is the language of a neighbouring state. For example, Telugu textbooks in Tamil Nadu. Thsoe who can afford it, always choose English.
3. Most students study three languages: the language of the state, Hindi, and English. Sanskrit is a popular fourth language and is available in all the Indian states; with the possible exception of Jammu and Kashmir which happens to be Muslim-majority and the Seven Sister States which haven't yet been fully Indianised; which means that Sanskrit, the Vedas, and the caste system don't have much of an influence.
4. While students can study in their mother tongue in school, the only way to become an engineer, doctor, programmer, historian, journalist, or to obtain higher education is to study in English. Almost all the universities teach exclusively in English.

NOTES ON EDUCATION

1. School education is state matter in India. The central government creates textbooks for the Union Territories. Schools outside the Union Territories can align their curriculum with the state or with the central government.

THE LANGUAGES IN PARENTHESES ARE THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION.

India

• India (Hindi, Urdu, and English)

North India

• Punjab (Punjabi, Hindi, and English)
• Rajasthan (Hindi and English)

East India

• Orissa (Odia, Urdu)*
• West Bengal (Bengali, Hindi, English, and others)
• Bihar (Hindi and Urdu)

West India

• Gujarat (Gujarati, Hindi, and English)
• Maharashtra (Marathi, Hindi, English, and others)

Central India

• Madhya Pradesh (Hindi)

South India

• Tamil Nadu (Tamil, English, Telugu, and other languages)
• Telangana (Telugu, English, Urdu, Hindi, and others)
• Andhra Pradesh (Telugu, Hindi, English, and others)**
• Kerala (Malyalam, English, Tamil, and Kannada)
• Karnatka (Kannada, English, Hindi, and others)

This list is not comprehensive. The website of the Jammu and Kashmir State Education Board is down right now, Manipur lists the textbooks but you have to pay to get them, and Haryana is busy displaying messages from ministers. I will update this post when I find links to those websites.

* = Not all the books are listed.
** = Starting this year, Andhra Pradesh plans to use only English in schools. The state's language, Telugu, will be only be taught as a subject (like a foreign language). The medium of instruction will be English.

[nooj]

Thank you for this list!

Starting this year, Andhra Pradesh plans to use only English in schools. The state's language, Telugu, will be only be taught as a subject (like a foreign language). The medium of instruction will be English.

What is the motivation for such a change?

[Saim]

Thank you for this list!

Starting this year, Andhra Pradesh plans to use only English in schools. The state's language, Telugu, will be only be taught as a subject (like a foreign language). The medium of instruction will be English.

What is the motivation for such a change?

The PTI government did the same thing in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan), even though they had spoken in favour of expanding mother tongue education during the elections. There at least the idea was to end class-based segregation according to medium of instruction (tertiary education and high-paying jobs generally function in English in both India and Pakistan, so most of the population is effectively locked out of these spaces), but in practice it resulted in worse outcomes for everyone and a major labour shortage given that most teachers in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa didn’t know enough English to be able to teach in it.

[verdastelo]

What is the motivation for such a change?

SAIM has already answered. What I can do is that simply list some widespread perceptions about English without going into the validity of them:

• All the world speaks English, including Chinese, Japanese, Russians, Germans, and French.
• To learn English well, it is important to learn in English.
• India would become developed if everyone started speaking in English.
• It's easy to migrate to the U.S., Canada, Australia, the U.K. or New Zealand if you speak English.
• India has many languages and we don't like Hindi.
• It will be easier to find a job if you speak English.
• Indian elites are anglophones.

The state's chief minister is aware of these perceptions. His move will do little to improve the quality of schools but might become a vote magnet.

[jeffers]

compare white people to an undercooked roti, black people to an overbaked roti, and brown people (Indians) to a perfectly baked roti.

I heard this story in in class in India in the late 70s when I was a child at an international school. I saw the same report on the BBC and wondered what the big deal was. It does go to show that if you're used to an idea from childhood it's not going to be shocking.