Jalandhar: In a good news for mother tongue lovers in India and especially for lakhs of Class 11 and 12 students in Punjab, the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) has decided to start teaching science subjects in their native language, Punjabi, as an option from next year.

From the next academic session, physics, chemistry and biology subjects will be taught to the students of Class 11 and 12 at government and private schools in their mother tongue, if they wished so.

Steps in this direction have been taken. For instance, the state education department is working on the translation of books for the session and the translation of science textbooks from English to Punjabi is also underway in Jalandhar, The Hindustan Times reported, adding that seven teachers have been assigned the task in this regard.

According to reports, while the translation of the chemistry textbook of Class 11 has been completed, the same for biology and physics is underway.

Welcoming the news, Dr Joga Singh, Professor and Former Head of Department of Linguistics in Punjabi University, Patiala told NewsGram that it was a step in right direction and towards imparting education to students across India.

"I wish to congratulate all mother tongue lovers for this. It is the result of our past more than a decade's efforts of revealing the truths about language issues. Time has now come to redouble our efforts throughout India," the Professor said.

He said that in his opinion there should be no dual education system in India and it was imperative that students were taught in their mother tongues only.

"The children who study in a foreign language cannot have any intimate contact with their country and culture. Even studies show that children learn best in their mother tongues," Singh added.