Marathi to be made mandatory in all Maharashtra schools till Std 10

Minister for Marathi Language Subhash Desai. Picture/Twitter Subhash Desai

The Uddhav Thackeray government in Maharashtra will bring a bill in the upcoming session of the state legislature to make teaching Marathi mandatory in all schools up to Class 10 irrespective of the board they are affiliated to, a cabinet minister said on Wednesday. Minister for Marathi Language Subhash Desai said the draft of the bill is being prepared and the proposed legislation will be introduced in the budget session starting on February 24.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, There are 25,000 schools in Maharashtra that do not teach Marathi. (Once the bill is passed) it will be mandatory for all schools running here to teach the Marathi language as part of their curriculum."

The draft regarding the same is being finalised. We are working on its intricacies," said Desai, a leader of the Shiv Sena which is heading the three-party alliance government in the state. Besides schools affiliated to the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary & Higher Secondary Education, there are a number of those which follow the syllabus prescribed by education boards like ICSE, CBSE, and IGCSE.

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