Congress and MNS criticized the move, but Fadnavis clarified that Hindi is not compulsory — students can choose any Indian language.
The Maharashtra government has issued an order making Hindi the ‘generally preferred’ third language for students from Class 1 to 5 in English and Marathi medium schools. However, it is not mandatory.
After the recent government order on Hindi sparked controversy and criticism from Congress and MNS chief Raj Thackeray, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis clarified on Wednesday that learning Hindi is no longer compulsory. Students can now choose any Indian language as their third language. He called the entire controversy unnecessary.
The revised government resolution issued on Tuesday says that instead of being mandatory, Hindi will ‘generally’ be the third language. However, it also gives an option — if at least 20 students in a class want to study a different Indian language instead of Hindi, they can opt out.
Some Marathi language supporters accused the government of bringing back the Hindi policy through the back door after initially backing off. Meanwhile, Congress accused Fadnavis of betraying the Marathi people. The School Education Department issued the government resolution (GR) as part of implementing the ‘State Curriculum Framework 2024 for School Education’ in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
