Marathi language to be made mandatory in all schools of Maharashtra until Class 10

Uddhav Thackrey, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, is likely to introduce a bill in the Maharashtra assembly that will make Marathi a mandatory subject in schools until Class 10 in Maharashtra. The bill will make Marathi mandatory across all the boards in Maharashtra. Subhash Desai, the minister for Marathi language, informed that the bill is going to be tabled in the upcoming budget session which will begin on February 24, 2020. A resolution pertaining to the bill was passed by a Business Advisory Committee meeting which was presided by the Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackrey and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Leader of Opposition, Devendra Fadnavis.

The idea of making Marathi compulsory for all the schools in Maharashtra was recommended by Ajit Pawar. There are 25, 000 schools in Maharashtra which do not teach Marathi and once the bill is passed in the state assembly it will be made compulsory for all the schools in Maharashtra to teach the language as part of their curriculum. The minister also informed that a draft pertaining to making the language mandatory for the schools is being completed and work is in progress on its intricacies.

Parallel to the schools affiliated to the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, there are schools in the state running on the syllabus recommended by the CBSE, ICSE, and IGCSE. At present, Marathi is a mandatory subject until class 4 in the CBSE and ICSE boards, however, it is discretionary for the future years. Once the bill is passed, it will become a compulsory subject for the CBSE and ICSE students in Maharashtra until Class 10.

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