THE Maharashtra Government has issued an order making Hindi “generally” the third language, but not mandatory, for students of Classes 1 to 5 studying in English and Marathi medium schools in the State. After the latest Government order on Hindi stirred a row and invited criticism from the Congress and MNS president Raj Thackeray, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis clarified that the “compulsion” for students to learn Hindi has been removed, and now any Indian language can be chosen as the third language as he dubbed the entire controversy as unnecessary. An amended Government resolution (GR) order issued on Tuesday said Hindi will “generally” be the third language, instead of being mandatory, but gave an option to opt out if 20 students per grade in a school express the desire to study anyIndian language other thanHindi.

 

While some Marathi language advocates accused theGovernment of reintroducing the“mandatory” Hindi policythrough the “backdoor” after initially backtracking, the Congressaccused Fadnavis of “stabbing”the Marathi people in the chest. The School EducationDepartment issued the GR aspart of the implementation of the ‘State Curriculum Framework for School Education 2024’, in alignment with the National Education Policy 2020. According to the GR, Hindi will “generally” be the third language for students from Classes 1 to 5 in Marathi and English medium schools. “Those who wish to learn any other language as an option to Hindi, should meet the expectation of 20 students from each standard in a school. In such a situation, a teacher for that particular language will be made available or the language will be taught online,” the order stated.

 

Marathi will be a compulsory language in all medium schools, the GR said. Critics claimed the Government’s latest move contradicts earlier statements of School Education Minister Dada Bhuse that Hindi would not be mandatory for primary classes. Strongly criticising the GR, Raj Thackeray asked what was the need to “impose” Hindi on students and appealed to schools to foil the Government’s “hiddenagenda to deliberately create a language divide”. Hindi is the State language of some northern States and it is wrong to force it on Maharashtra, where Marathi is widely used, he asserted. If the Government pressures schools, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena will stand by them. 

 

 

MAHARASHTRA Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the “compulsion” for students in the State to learn Hindi has been removed in a new order, and now any Indian language can be chosen as the third language. While English is widely promoted, Indian languages are often neglected, Fadnavis said and maintained that disputes over languages are unnecessary. The State Government on Tuesday issued an order saying Hindi will “generally” be taught as the third language to students in Marathi and English medium schools from classes 1 to 5.