Maharashtra withdraws orders to teach Hindi as third language in primary schools
The Maharashtra government has withdrawn its resolutions to teach Hindi as the third language to students from Class 1 to Class 5 in Marathi and English medium schools, reported The Hindu on Sunday.
Ahead of the Monsoon Session of the state Assembly, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also announced that a new committee, led by former Rajya Sabha MP Narendra Jadhav, has been formed to advise the state on implementing the National Education Policy's three-language formula, according to The Indian Express.
This came amid a state-wide row triggered by the Mahayuti government's June 17 order making Hindi a ' generally ' taught third language.
The Mahayuti alliance comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction and the Nationalist Congress Party group led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
According to the order, if 20 students per grade in a school wish to study any other Indian language, they can opt out of Hindi. If such a demand arises, either a teacher will be appointed or the language will be taught online.
On Friday, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) announced that it will hold a joint protest against the three-language policy with Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena on July 5.
Later in the day, Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar stated that the people of Maharashtra are not anti-Hindi, but it is not right to impose the language on students in primary schools.
On Sunday, Fadnavis said the state government will wait for the new committee's report 'before deciding from which class the three-language formula should be implemented'.
'For us, Marathi and the Marathi student are at the center of our policy,' said the Maharashtra chief minister. 'Our language policy will always be Marathi-centric.'
The Mahayuti government has faced backlash twice over its language policy this year.
On April 16, it announced plans to implement the 2020 National Education Policy from the academic year 2025-'26.
This made Hindi compulsory as the third language for students of Class 1 to Class 5 in Marathi and English medium schools. This replaced the two-language structure with the three-language formula.
On April 20, a language consultation committee appointed by the state government opposed the decision to make Hindi a mandatory third language in primary schools.
On April 22, the state government stayed its April 16 order. The new directive said that while the three-language policy would still take effect, students would no longer be required to study Hindi as their third language.
The three-language formula refers to teaching students English, Hindi and the native language of a state. It was introduced in the first National Education Policy in 1968 and was retained in the new policy launched in 2020.
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