Minister: Hindi optional for class 1-V, but not 3rd language
Mumbai: Faced with criticism for making Hindi mandatory as the third language for class I to V, school education minister
Dadaji Bhuse
announced on Tuesday that it will be an 'optional' subject. The statement follows chief minister Devendra Fadnavis's comments that Hindi will not be compulsory from class I.
However, a third language is likely to remain a mandatory component for primary students. The department will study which languages can be offered in schools apart from Hindi. But with less than two months left for a new academic year to start, schools are sceptical about introducing the third language as a component in the syllabus even though Bhuse said the available stock of teachers will suffice.
Bhuse, in a media interaction, clarified that the Centre has not imposed Hindi in the state's curriculum and that it was the state's steering committee on the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 that recommended it in Sept 2024. The report has been available in the public domain since then.
He said the three-language formula has been prescribed in the NEP. Though it recommends three languages from the sixth grade, the steering committee decided to introduce Hindi in the first grade, given its similarity to Devanagari (used for Marathi) and its widespread usage. "Taking into account people's sentiments, we have now decided to make it optional," said Bhuse, adding that books printed for class I for 2025-26 will be used by schools offering it as an option.
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The department will study which other languages can be offered in schools in class I, he said. The decision to introduce Hindi in class 1 led to a backlash not only from political parties but a section of educationists and parents too. Many said a third language would be an additional burden for students in class I and that studies have shown that currently a majority of primary students in state-run schools lack competence to read and write even in their own language.
However, Rahul Rekhawar, director, State's Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), said learning multiple languages at a young age is good for children's cognitive development and that people are per se not opposed to a third language, even if they oppose Hindi. He said a third language from class I will help students remain competitive when the Centre brings in equivalence in curriculums across boards. Principal secretary (school education) Ranjit Singh Deol and commissioner (school education) Sachindra Pratap Singh were also present for the meeting.
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