To connect with roots, NRI couple admits son to ZP Marathi school
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KOLHAPUR: A woman software engineer working in the US with her husband on Monday enrolled her son Vihan (7) in a zilla parishad school in Sangli Atpadi to learn Marathi, his mother tongue.
Vihan will live with his uncle and attend school with his cousins.
Vihan's mother, Bharati Vijaykumar Shelke, told TOI that the boy was studying in a North Carolina-based school, where the neighbourhood chiefly of English-speaking residents. "At the start, he could speak a few words in Marathi. But we were shocked to see him forgetting his mother tongue as he grew older. We wanted him to learn Marathi and felt this was the right age for it.
We chose a ZP Marathi school for its focus on quality education and fewer distractions," she said.
Bharati's husband, Vijaykumar, has been working in US as an engineer for 15 years. She moved to the US after marriage in 2016. The couple have two sons, with another just 2 years old. Vijaykumar holds an L1 visa, for working temporarily in the US, while Bharati holds an L2 visa, which allows the spouse and unmarried children (under 21 years old) of an L1 visa holder to stay in the US. "There is still a year and a half left for visa termination.
We may decide to come back to India," Bharati said. The ZP school has gained recognition after the success of its students in talent search exams.
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Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
To connect with roots, NRI couple admits son to ZP Marathi school
Danny generated AI Image KOLHAPUR: A woman software engineer working in the US with her husband on Monday enrolled her son Vihan (7) in a zilla parishad school in Sangli Atpadi to learn Marathi, his mother tongue. Vihan will live with his uncle and attend school with his cousins. Vihan's mother, Bharati Vijaykumar Shelke, told TOI that the boy was studying in a North Carolina-based school, where the neighbourhood chiefly of English-speaking residents. "At the start, he could speak a few words in Marathi. But we were shocked to see him forgetting his mother tongue as he grew older. We wanted him to learn Marathi and felt this was the right age for it. We chose a ZP Marathi school for its focus on quality education and fewer distractions," she said. Bharati's husband, Vijaykumar, has been working in US as an engineer for 15 years. She moved to the US after marriage in 2016. The couple have two sons, with another just 2 years old. Vijaykumar holds an L1 visa, for working temporarily in the US, while Bharati holds an L2 visa, which allows the spouse and unmarried children (under 21 years old) of an L1 visa holder to stay in the US. "There is still a year and a half left for visa termination. We may decide to come back to India," Bharati said. The ZP school has gained recognition after the success of its students in talent search exams.
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
Techie couple working in US admit son in ZP Marathi school to connect to roots
Kolhapur: A woman software engineer working in the US with her husband on Monday enrolled her seven-year-old son, Vihan, in a zilla parishad school in Sangli district's Atpadi to learn Marathi, his mother tongue. Vihan will live with his maternal uncle and attend school with his cousins. Vihan's mother, Bharati Vijaykumar Shelke, told TOI that the boy was studying in a North Carolina-based school, where where the neighbourhood primarily consisted of English-speaking residents. "At the start, he could speak a few words in Marathi. But we were shocked to see him forgetting his mother tongue as he grew older. We wanted him to learn Marathi and felt this was the right age for it. We chose a ZP Marathi school for its focus on quality education and fewer distractions. My brother's daughters are already studying there, and seeing them thrive made up our minds," she said. Bharati's husband, Vijaykumar, has been working in the US as a software engineer for around 15 years. She moved to the US after her marriage in 2016. The couple have two sons, with another just two-year-old. Vijaykumar holds an L1 visa, allowing him to work temporarily in the US due to an intra-company transfer from their foreign office, while Bharati holds and L2 visa, which allows the spouse and unmarried children (under 21 years old) of an L1 visa holder to enter and stay in the US. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Enpal zahlt jedem Hausbesitzer bis zu 2.000€ jährlich, wenn... Enpal | Solaranlage fürs Dach Undo "There is still one-and-a-half years for the termination of the visa. We may decide to come back to India depending on situations, such as promotion. We explored other options like online tutoring for Vihan in the Marathi language, but it lacked the actual experience of learning," Bharati said. The couple first stayed in New York state and moved to Charlotte in North Carolina about a year back, where Vihan finished his first grade at a local school. Homeopath Umesh Balte, the maternal uncle of Vihan, said, "I shifted my twin daughters from a private school to a ZP school due to a lack of quality teachers. Now, they've improved significantly. My nephew Vihan will join them in Std II." Bharati visited India during summer vacation and planned to stay with her brother temporarily, working from home, but might return to the US if needed. Meanwhile, her son Vihan would stay in India to connect with his roots, and she would take him back to the US later. The ZP Marathi shala in Atpadi has gained recognition for its students' success in talent search exams, attracting parents who previously opted for private schools. "Our teachers are student-friendly and focus on excellence in competitive exams. We're seeing a surge in admissions, with 90 students joining Std I this year, up from 60 last year. Notably, 20-25 students have shifted from private schools to our school. We've also upgraded infrastructure with LED projectors and educational tools like math-learning toys," Sangli ZP block education officer Jagannath Kolape said.
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
CBSE schools face hurdle to enforce mother tongue as primary medium
Mangaluru: CBSE's recent circular to introduce mother tongue as the primary medium of instruction for kindergarten to grade five has sparked a debate and confusion in coastal districts, where children speak multiple languages. While pedagogically sound for early learning, implementation raises serious questions, according to educational institutions. The hurdles in implementation include recruiting language teachers for each mother tongue and classroom. "Ideally, teaching in the child's mother tongue makes sense. But is it practical?" questions Mathew C Ninan, director of Little Rock Indian School, Brahmavar. "First of all, we will have several mother tongues in a school. Some of them may be only a dialect with no script. Then there is the mention of regional language. Which is to be chosen? There is room for confusion here itself. Schools may struggle to support multiple languages, making such an initiative potentially unfeasible," said Ninan. The second challenge is the teacher's proficiency with a particular language. "Teachers should be conversant in that language. Teaching materials should be available in every language. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Вот что поза во сне говорит о вашем характере! Удивительные Новости Undo NCERT has to prepare the materials. Will that happen? Finally, materials will be available only in Hindi," pointed out Ninan. This move will result in edging out English systematically and will affect the employability of children, he noted. Another head of a CBSE school questioned whether such policies are feasible or possible, especially in a place like Mangaluru. "Among our native speakers themselves, there are Kannada, Tulu, Konkani spoken by Christians and GSB. We also have Beary, Malayalam, and Tamil speakers. Apart from it, there are transfer cases, which again add more languages. In total, our institution has 13 language from it, there are transfer cases, which again add more languages. In total, our institution has 13 language speakers. How can we cater to all in terms of the recruitment of teachers for every language and classroom? There are strict riders from the state govt on the increase in the fee," shared a head of a CBSE school. Fr Johnson L Sequeira, principal of Lourdes Central School, said that they have not implemented it yet and are studying the implications. "We have local students speaking various mother tongues, children from various parts of the country who come here due to their parents' transferable jobs. We have a few children from northeastern states," he said.
