Culture
NDA cadets to have Kashmiri, Pashto and Dari language as part of their curriculum
The National Defence Academy Pune has, in its curriculum, included Kashmiri, Pashto and Dari languages from this academic year, facilitating young officers during their posting in Jammu and Kashmir., PTI reported.
An official told PTI the course started this month and these languages will be compulsorily taught to cadets in their last year (of the three-year course) at the academy.
“Young leaders are invariably required to serve on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, where Pashto and Dari languages are frequently used by the adversary. Kashmiri is our language and we have a large number of men from the state,” the official said.
When inquired about if there was a specific requirement from the service headquarters for initiating a study of these languages, the official said there was no specific demand.
“It has been felt that the same (introduction of these languages) is the need of the hour in view of the normal service requirements of young officers,” the official said.
Apart from Dari and Pashto, which are languages spoken in Afghanistan, Hindi has already been in the curriculum. Foreign languages are taught in the second, third and fourth semesters.
“Chinese, Arabic, French and Russian are the other foreign languages currently being taught at the tri-service academy,” the official said.
The NDA’s syllabus and curriculum are periodically reviewed by headquarters of the three defence services and its implementation is reviewed by a joint training committee along with the institute.
An iconic institute located at Khadakwasla on the city’s outskirts, NDA is the joint services academy of the armed forces where cadets receive training together before they go to their respective service academies for further pre-commissioning training.
The academy is recognised by the Jahwaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, and offers BA, B.Sc and B.Tech degree courses to cadets.
