‘Schools not teaching Marathi will face action’

Many of the Maharashtra board schools already have Marathi and Gujarati subject modules. Representation pic

Almost two years after Marathi language was made a compulsory subject in all schools, irrespective of the board they are affiliated to, the state government has started the process of checking whether the rule has been implemented across the state. The schools that are yet to make the subject compulsory might face show-cause notices and a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh. The Director of Education (Primary) has issued an order in this regard.

The circular, dated November 15, addressed to all deputy directors of education has asked them to collate data of all schools under their jurisdiction. They have also been asked to check whether any school is yet to implement the rule. "If any school has not implemented the rule yet, send them letters asking why a fine of Rs 1 lakh should not be levied on them. If the explanation provided by the school is unsatisfactory, action should be taken," states the order issued by Director of Education (Primary) Dinkar Temkar.

As per the Marathi mandate implemented last year, all schools should teach the language as a compulsory subject starting with Std I and Std VI in the academic year 2020-21, and extending it to Std II and Std VII in the academic year 2021-22. "Schools have to follow the regulations. We already had Marathi as a subject but it was optional. Now we have recruited a teacher so that the curriculum can be followed properly," said J Mohanty, principal of DPS Nerul.

"Parents were not against teaching Marathi, but many were worried that their wards would not be able to cope with an additional subject. It is a valid concern as the mandate meant that there would be additional exams, which would affect overall marks. This is more of a problem at the higher levels as many non-state board schools have foreign languages such as French, German among all, as optional subjects," shared a school principal from Mumbai.

Speaking to mid-day, Prachi Ranadive, principal of Shishuvan School, said, "We always had Marathi and Gujarati subject modules, apart from the mandatory English and Hindi. Earlier they were not formal subjects, we focused on sessions where children were introduced to speaking and reading these languages. We continue to offer these subjects but the standard of teaching Marathi has increased as it's mandatory now."