Hindi spoken largely in public life, learning it will benefit students: Maharashtra minister

MUMBAI: Maharashtra minister Dada Bhuse on Wednesday defended the government’s decision of Hindi to be taught as the third language in schools, saying it is widely used in daily communication and will help Class 12 students in higher education.

The school education minister also warned of strict action against schools not teaching Marathi, as per the curriculum.The amended government resolution (GR) said Hindi will “generally” be the third language, instead of being mandatory, and gave an option to opt out if 20 students per grade in a school express the desire to study any Indian language other than Hindi.

Some pro-Marathi outfits accused the government of reintroducing the policy through the “backdoor” after initially backtracking, and the opposition Congress accused the Devendra Fadnavis-led government of “stabbing” the Marathi people in the chest.Bhuse noted that while an earlier government communication used the word “mandatory” for Hindi, the revised order issued on Tuesday described it as “generally” the third language, a subtle shift which critics have flagged as ambiguous.

The minister, however, defended the government’s decision, saying learning Hindi will benefit students.

“Learning Hindi is important because it is largely used for communication in public life,” the minister told reporters here.Hence, learning Hindi will benefit students in the long run,” Bhuse said.

He pointed out that Hindi is already being taught from class 5 in Marathi and English-medium schools, while in non-Marathi-medium schools, Marathi remains compulsory and English is taught as the third language.

Addressing concerns over the imposition of Hindi, Bhuse said students will be given the option to choose another Indian language as the third language.Bhuse acknowledged that several Marathi-medium schools in the state have shut down over the years and there is a decline in enrolments in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) schools.

“It is a fact that student enrolment in many Marathi schools is on a decline. We have to accept the reality. Even schools run by municipal corporations have reported losing students to other schools. We will welcome all suggestions to improve the situation,” he said.