Maharashtra govt to make 'Marathi' subject compulsory in all schools from Class 1 to 10

Maharashtra Minister Subhash Desai on Tuesday said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)-led State government will make Marathi subject compulsory in all schools from Class 1 to Class 10. He further mentioned that the government will bring a bill in the next assembly session over this decision. This decision of the government comes after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said that the government was thinking of making Marathi compulsory in all schools till class 10.

On January 10, Pawar during his speech at a felicitation program at Baramati said, "The number of children studying in English-medium schools is increasing and they speak very good English. But they are not able to read and write Marathi properly. Very soon we are going to take up one issue, and that is to make Marathi a compulsory subject in schools, be it Urdu-medium, Hindi-medium or English-medium, from class 1 to Class 10. We all live in Maharashtra and every child should read and write Marathi properly."

The Maharashtra government has even passed a rule that in every primary and secondary school in the state, reading of Preamble of the Constitution after prayer will be mandatory from January 26.

READ | Saibaba Birthplace Row: Delegation From Pathri To Meet Maha CM Uddhav Thackeray On Jan 22

READ | India Opens Its First Mahatma Gandhi Convention Centre In Niger

Raut urges govt

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had also raised questions over the implementation of the state government’s plan to make Marathi compulsory in all schools.

Raut, in his weekly column ‘Rokhthok’ in Saamana — the Shiv Sena mouthpiece — referred to three announcements made by the government — passing a bill in the Budget Session of the Assembly to make Marathi compulsory in all schools, asking officials to write remarks in Marathi at Mantralaya and giving 80 per cent jobs to the local youth in industries. “All these decisions are important. But will they be really implemented (at the ground level)? If somebody speaks about Marathi language and Marathi pride in Maharashtra, he is put in a dock. But when leaders from other states talk about their people, then everyone looks at them with appreciation,” Raut said.

READ | Maharashtra: Devendra Fadnavis Calls Urgent Meeting Over Alleged Rift In BJP's Mumbai Unit

READ | Govt Considering Making Marathi Compulsory: Ajit Pawar

(with inputs from agencies)