Latest news with #Balbharati
Time of India
5 days ago
- General
- Time of India
100+ Maharashtrian students from abroad clear spl Marathi test
Mumbai: Over 100 Maharashtrian students from the US, Canada and Denmark qualified in the first-ever special Marathi language comprehensive assessment test conducted by the Maharashtra State Board of Open Schooling. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Students from class 1-8 took the examination and secured qualification in the subject, with the maximum (67) coming from the US. Of the 103 students, the highest number (28) was in class I. This special language instruction and certification came about from a memorandum of understanding signed between the Brihan Maharashtra Mandal North America (BMMNA) and the education department of the state of Maharashtra last year. The idea was to teach Marathi language formally to the children of non-resident Maharashtrian parents. About 60 schools from the USA, Canada and Denmark offered the special programme curated by the state's board. Sharad Gosavi, chairman of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, said, "This programme started last year after the BMMNA reached out to us as they wanted their native language taught formally to their children." Speaking on how these exams were conducted, Gosavi said, "We gave a three-day programme to local Maharashtrian teachers who are passionate about wanting to teach Marathi. We used Balbharati textbooks to develop the curriculum for them. The exams were conducted this May. We prepared model question papers for them and the exams were held offline just like any other subject they might have." Gosavi said parents of the children were very keen to start teaching their native tongue to their children properly with a formal curriculum and exams. "We stepped in to make the whole exercise official," Gosavi said, adding that he expects more expatriate Maharashtrians to take up the subject.
Hindustan Times
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Balbharati to get new building soon: Pankaj Bhoyar
A new and well-equipped building will be constructed soon in Pune for Balbharati as the existing structure has been declared unsafe. Maharashtra minister of state for education, Pankaj Bhoyar, informed the legislative council on Thursday that the reconstruction of the Balbharati office has been taken up on a priority basis. The minister also announced the launch of the 'Mukhya Mantri Gyanpatra Yojana' or 'Chief Minister's Knowledge Paper Scheme' under which, used books and notebooks will be collected from across the state, recycled, and repurposed into new learning material to be distributed at subsidised rates. (HT FILE) Bhoyar said, 'Balbharati, officially known as the Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production and Curriculum Research, was established on January 27, 1967. It is responsible for printing and distributing textbooks approved by the state government for classes 1 to 12 across Maharashtra.' Bhoyar said that the current building, constructed using load-bearing structural technology, was found to be inadequate and unsafe in a recent structural audit. 'A proposal will be submitted to the regulatory board to demolish the existing building and construct a new one in its place. Once approvals are secured, the work will begin immediately,' he said. The issue was raised through a calling attention notice by council member Dnyaneshwar Mhatre, who flagged the deteriorating condition of the current building. Members Jagannath Abhyankar, Vikram Kale, and Kishor Darade also contributed to the discussion. Speaking about curriculum development, Bhoyar said that the state government will tailor the curricula to local needs. He emphasised that especially in rural areas, Balbharati's workbooks will be increasingly used to improve learning outcomes. The minister also announced the launch of the 'Mukhya Mantri Gyanpatra Yojana' or 'Chief Minister's Knowledge Paper Scheme' under which, used books and notebooks will be collected from across the state, recycled, and repurposed into new learning material to be distributed at subsidised rates. 'The government also plans to develop basic infrastructure on land parcels owned by Balbharati wherever feasible,' Bhoyar said.
Time of India
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Schools reopened, but 3rd language books not ready
Pune: While the three-language policy has been made mandatory for state board schools from Class I to V from this year, the govt has not printed any third language textbooks for students and teachers to follow though the new academic sessions has already started. Even syllabi for the third languages are not ready, sources said. Officials from Balbharati, the textbook production bureau, said they can start printing the books only after receiving the work order. Mahendra Ganpule, spokesperson for Maharashtra School Principals Federation, said syllabi must be approved before printing, so it will be 2-3 months into the academic year before students get the textbooks. Officials from Balbharati, the textbook production bureau of the state, said they can start printing the books only after receiving the work order from Maharashtra Prathamik Shiksha Parishad, which is responsible for providing free textbooks in civic schools from Class I to VIII and in the open market. Class I students in mediums other than Marathi have not yet received Marathi books as they have not been printed. Rahul Rekhawar, director of SCERT, said the syllabus for Marathi textbook for Class I for students studying in mediums other than Marathi and English has been finalised, and the book is almost ready. "Balbharati will be able to print textbooks and distribute them across the state in about a month. For third language books of other languages, we will complete the process based on the same syllabus, which is easy and interactive and focuses only on listening and speaking age-appropriate and need-based sentences," he added. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Scam Exposed: What They Won't Tell You about zero trust! Expertinspector Click Here Undo The govt resolution on Tuesday said Hindi is no longer a mandatory third language and students can choose any other Indian language as the third language. Balbharati's director K K Patil said for third language textbooks or any other textbooks, they need to know the number of books to print. "The requirement order comes from Samagra Shiksha project under Maharashtra Prathamik Shiksha Parishad, which is the nodal body that distributes free textbooks to all local body-run schools and others for Classes I to VIII. Once we get an order from MPSP as well as the demand from the open market, we will be able to print the entire set within 10 days. " Vasant Kalpande, ex-chairman of Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, said when they opposed the April GR making Hindi compulsory, the education minister promised a committee and dialogue to look into the third language controversy. But a decision was unilaterally made.
Time of India
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
No third language books in print, critics say how will students learn
Pune: The state govt has not printed any third language textbooks for students and teachers to follow even though it made a three-language policy mandatory for the state board's Marathi- and English-medium schools from Std I to V. Std I students in mediums other than Marathi have not yet received Marathi books for the same reason. The govt resolution (GR) on Tuesday said Hindi is no longer a mandatory third language and students can choose any other Indian language as the third language but a teacher will be available only if there are at least 20 students in the class. Otherwise, the language has to be taught online. Officials from Balbharati, the textbook production bureau of the state, said that they can start printing the books only after receiving the work order from Maharashtra Prathamik Shiksha Parishad which is responsible for providing free textbooks in civic schools from Std I to VIII and in the open market. Rahul Rekhawar, director of SCERT, said that the syllabus for Marathi textbook for Std I for students studying in mediums other than Marathi and English has been finalised, and the book is almost ready. "Balbharati will be able to print the textbooks and distribute them across the state in about a month. For third language books of other languages, we will complete the process based on the same syllabus, which is very easy and interactive and focuses only on listening and speaking age-appropriate and need-based sentences," he added. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like One of the Most Successful Investors of All Time, Warren Buffett, Recommends: 5 Books for Turning... Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Click Here Undo Balbharati's director K K Patil said for third language textbooks or any other textbooks, they need to know the number of books to print. "The requirement order comes from Samagra Shiksha project under Maharashtra Prathamik Shiksha Parishad, which is the nodal body that distributes free textbooks to all local body-run schools and others for Stds I to VIII. Once we get an order from MPSP as well as the demand from the open market, we will be able to print the entire set within 10 days. " Vasant Kalpande, former chairman of Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, said when they opposed the April GR making Hindi compulsory, the education minister promised a committee and dialogue to look into the third language controversy. But a decision was unilaterally made. Mahendra Ganpule, spokesperson for Maharashtra School Principals' Federation, said govt's utter lack of planning is exposed. He added that the syllabus must be approved and books printed and it will be 2-3 months into the academic year before students and teachers get them. Head: Next year Would Have Given Ample Time There has been widespread opposition to the third language policy With no books for Hindi and other languages, experts are questioning the hasty GR without ensuring the availability of study resources Educationists said that not only is the third language policy questionable, but also the timing of the order They said changes in the syllabus or books are announced before an academic year starts and not after it At least 80% of govt schools will not have 20 students in each primary class. It means they will not get a separate teacher for a third language. Why should students be made to study Hindi when most know Hindi to get by? There are no third language books printed yet. How will students learn and how will educators teach? Govt should have drawn up the syllabus before they introduced the policy. They should have started the third language next year and taken this year to plan, consult and get the books ready Vasant Kalpande I Former State Board Chairman The timetable given by SCERT shows that earlier one hour each per day was given for each language—Marathi and English in STd I and II—but now each of the three languages will get 35 minutes each. So for the same syllabus, Marathi and English need to be taught in lesser time as the teachers also need to teach a third language Mahendra Ganpule I Spokesperson for Maharashtra School Principals' Federation
Hindustan Times
09-06-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
99% Balbharati textbook distribution complete: Officials
Ahead of the new academic year 2025-26, the Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production (Balbharati) has completed the distribution of 99% of textbooks, said officials. 'Schools are starting from June 16. Books have reached everywhere, except for minor exceptions. This year, 5.7 crore books were printed as per demand. As per the decision taken by the state government, books for Class 1 have been made available as per New Education Policy (NEP),' said Krishnakumar Patil, director, Balbharati. Last year, the distribution of textbooks by Balbharati faced several issues, such as delays in the delivery of textbooks, especially in remote areas. Many students received books many weeks after school began, and several textbooks had blank pages and missing content due to printing errors. There was also a shortage of several subject books in the market. 'To avoid repetition of these challenges, Balbharati has improved planning this year and completed 99% distribution before school reopening,' said Patil. The Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan initiative aims to ensure that no student from standard 1 to 8 is deprived of textbooks. The main objective is to achieve 100% attendance in schools and reduce dropout rates of students to zero through the free textbook distribution scheme of the government. Under the initiative, Balbharati provides free textbooks to students from Class 1 to 8 enrolled in government and government-aided schools. The distribution was executed according to the demand through Balbharati's network of regional warehouses, and book depots across Maharashtra, said officials.
