Hindi not compulsory but optional in classes 1 to 5 for now, says Maha Minister

Mumbai, April 22 (IANS) Amid the raging controversy, the Maharashtra government, on Tuesday, took a u-turn on making Hindi a compulsory third language in classes 1 to 5 in English and Marathi schools from the academic year 2025-26.

After strong opposition and outrage from various stakeholders, the State Minister of School Education Dadaji Bhuse said that Hindi would not be made compulsory for now but it will be optional in classes 1 to 5.

He also added that the decision on making Hindi language compulsory will be taken in due course of time after a due consultation process.

"For now, we will keep Hindi as an optional subject. We will take a decision regarding other subjects in due course of time. Those students who are interested in Hindi language will be taught Hindi along with Marathi and English. The government decision in this regard will be issued as soon as possible," said Bhuse.

The Maharashtra government was thereby forced to respond to criticism from opposition parties and regional leaders, who argued that making Hindi compulsory in classes 1 to 5 in English and Marathi schools threatened Marathi identity.

Minister Bhuse also said, "The state government in its notification issued on April 16 had said that Hindi language would be mandatory in classes 1 to 5 in English and Marathi schools. The notification had clearly said that the Marathi language subject will remain the same. Marathi language will be given priority. English will be the second subject. Then the third subject will be Hindi language. The Central government has not made Hindi subject mandatory. The steering committee has accepted the third language Hindi subject. The government's decision used the word that Hindi language will be mandatory which was questioned by many. If it is decided to teach another language other than Hindi, then the teachers will also have to be changed. A policy will have to be decided for this."

The State Educational Reforms and Training Council recently prepared the State School Curriculum Plan-2024.

According to this plan, it was made mandatory for students from class 1 to 5 in Marathi and English medium schools to learn Hindi as a third language along with Marathi and English.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said, "Hindi has not been made mandatory instead of Marathi. Marathi is mandatory. But the new education policy has given the opportunity to learn three languages. Learning three languages is mandatory. There is a rule that out of these three languages, two must be Indian. Therefore, we have made Marathi mandatory among the two Indian languages. What is the other language? So if you take any Indian language, you will have to take Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Gujarati or any other. You cannot take anything outside these."

Earlier, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-UBT has announced that it would not allow the state government to make Hindi compulsory while Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) founded by Raj Thackeray claimed that if the state government does not withdraw its decision then a protest is inevitable.

The Congress alleged that making Hindi compulsory is a ploy to destroy the Marathi language, identity and culture.

The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party warned that undermining Marathi under the garb of New Education Policy would not be tolerated.

The state government's language consultation committee has urged Chief Minister Fadnavis to revoke the decision of making Hindi a mandatory third language for students of classes 1 to 5.

The language consultation committee's chief Laxmikant Deshmukh claimed the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) did not consider their thoughts and suggestions before announcing Hindi as a third language subject.

--IANS

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