New draft drops 3rd language in state schools for Class 3-10
This means state govt schools will continue to teach two languages until the Narendra Jadhav committee decides the future of the third language in classrooms.
Tamil Nadu is the only state which has a two-language policy in its schools.
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The third language will be included in the curriculum only after the final recommendations of the committee and a subsequent decision by govt," SCERT director Rahul Rekhawar said.
He said that until a formal decision is made, the current curriculum system will continue. "At present, only the first and second language syllabi have been prepared. The third language syllabus will follow once the curriculum is finalised."
The exclusion of the third language comes after months of heated public debate, especially around the imposition of Hindi, in Marathi and English medium schools. Education activists demanded that schools be given the autonomy in choosing the third language based on local and cultural relevance.
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The new curriculum, designed in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, includes 20 subjects. The revised syllabus introduces environmental education, Indian knowledge systems, constitutional values, and entrepreneurship skills across different grades.
Among the 20 subjects are Marathi, English, mathematics, science, history, geography, economics, political science, arts, vocational education, physical education, and foundational value education.
The draft curriculum has now been uploaded on SCERT's website www.maa.ac.in, and feedback from stakeholders—teachers, parents, experts, and institutions—has been invited until Aug 27.
SCERT has urged respondents to provide detailed suggestions, citing the subject, grade, original content, proposed changes, and the rationale behind them.
However, the absence of a third language from the draft has once again drawn attention to the ongoing controversy around language inclusion in school education.
In recent months, several parents' groups and regional political leaders voiced opposition to making Hindi compulsory in non-Hindi speaking states like Maharashtra.
Mahendra Ganpule, former vice-president, state headmasters' association, said the new draft published on Sunday is similar to the one published earlier in line with SCF 2024.
Other highlights of the draft include a dedicated vocational education curriculum starting from Class 6 and a redesigned environmental studies syllabus for Class 3 to 5, now titled 'The World Around Us'.
The curriculum reflects NEP's broader goals, such as promoting sustainable development, social inclusion, and interdisciplinary learning.
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Students from Classes 6 to 8 will be encouraged to choose one of these indigenous languages. 'This way, we will be fulfilling the multilingualism goal of NEP 2020. But all of this is possible only because we have enough well-trained staff, who are not only taking initiative, but also involving parents,' Acharya said. Meanwhile, at the government girls' school in Ferozepur Jhirka, teachers struggle to teach even two languages—Hindi and English. 'At our school, we generally teach in Hindi, even the books that are in English are taught in Hindi. But teaching multiple languages isn't possible in these settings, where teachers are doubling up. Who will teach those languages?' said principal Inaam. Inaam and his colleagues now hope that they will soon get additional space or rooms, so they can implement the policy in both letter and spirit. 'Without additional infrastructure and manpower, the implementation of the policy will continue to remain only on paper, no matter how hard we try. And it will be unfair to our students,' he said. (Edited by Mannat Chugh) Also Read: Mughals out, Magadha empire makes pages of new NCERT Class 7 textbook 'rooted in Indian ethos'
