Pune: Reacting to the State government's plan to make Marathi compulsory as the third language in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE)-affiliated schools till Std X, city-based teachers said it should depend on students' preference and interest to learn a particular language. 

State Education Minister Vinod Tawde on Tuesday announced that the State government may make Marathi compulsory in CBSE and ICSE-affiliated schools till Std X. The announcement came on the occasion of Marathi Bhasha Gaurav Din, which is celebrated on February 27. 

On the eve of Marathi Bhasha Gaurav Din, Governor C Vidyasagar Rao slammed his officials for not presenting a Marathi translation of his speech during the budget session in Vidhan Bhavan. 

Generally, students from other states or from abroad whose parents have a transferable job study in CBSE and ICSE schools due to their common syllabi across the country. Many teachers said that although the State government is trying to make Marathi compulsory, most of the students, including those from Maharashtra, prefer learning a different language, as they are exposed to their regional language at home. 

“Since our inception in 2003, the Delhi Public School (DPS) has made Sanskrit compulsory as the third language. We received a positive response from parents and students for learning this language. However, it is not possible to make Marathi compulsory. If students opt to learn Marathi, certainly the school will provide the facility, as there is no harm in learning a regional language and especially of the region one resides in,” said Neelam Chakravarty, Principal, DPS. 

Neelam Khanna, Head of Hindi Department at the Global Indian International School, said making Marathi the third language compulsory will be unfair for students from different parts of the country or from other countries, who come to acquire education in the CBSE and the ICSE schools. 

“It is difficult for them to understand and adapt the regional language and score marks. While students hailing from Maharashtra can learn Marathi at home and can opt for it in the curriculum, making the language compulsory will put other non-regional students in a fix,” said Khanna. 

Last year, the CBSE urged schools to take out foreign languages from the curriculum till Std X. This was supposed to start by 2020 under the three-language formula. The board demanded that schools should consider Sanskrit or one of the 22 Indian languages listed in the Constitution as the third language.