On Saturday, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray asserted that his party will not allow making Hindi compulsory in Maharashtra after the state government decided to make Hindi a mandatory third language for classes 1 to 5.
Uddhav Thackeray's remarks come amid the opposition’s outcry over the Maharashtra government’s decision to make Hindi a mandatory third language for students of Classes 1 to 5 in Marathi and English-medium schools across the state, in a departure from the practice of studying two languages.
Uddhav Thackeray said his party has no aversion to the Hindi language but asked why it is being forced.
Earlier Maharashtra Government has decided that Hindi as a third language will be mandatory for students in classes 1 to 5 in Marathi and English-medium schools across the state, in a departure from the practice of studying two languages. The three-language formula for classes 1 to 5 is a part of the new curriculum implementation under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The state school education department has declared a phase-wise implementation plan of the new curriculum framework designed as per the NEP 2020 recommendations for school education. Currently, only Marathi and English are being taught as mandatory languages from Classes 1 to 4 in these schools.
According to a Government Resolution (GR), Hindi as a third language will be compulsory from Class 1 to 5 from the next academic year. The new syllabus as per NEP will be implemented for Class 1 in 2025-26. For Classes 2, 3, 4 and 6, the policy will be implemented in 2026-27, for Classes 5, 9 and 11 from 2027-28, and for Classes 8, 10 and 12 from 2028-29, the GR said.
All schools in the state, other than Marathi and English medium, are currently following the three-language formula. For such schools, the language of the medium, English and Marathi will be taught, said the GR. For Std VI to X, the language policy will be as per the state curriculum, it said.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the state has already implemented the NEP. Marathi has already been made compulsory, he said. Hindi should also be learnt as it is a means of communication in the entire country, he said.
Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar said the move goes against the ‘Marathi asmita' (pride). “There would have been no problem if Hindi were an optional language. But making it mandatory will hurt Marathi sentiments. Can we demand Marathi as a third language in Madhya Pradesh or Uttar Pradesh,” Wadettiwar said.
*With Agency Inputs
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