Language panel against ‘Hindi compulsory’ decision, Maharashtra CM Fadnavis says govt will offer choice

Pune/Mumbai: Amid growing opposition over the state govt's decision to make Hindi the third compulsory language for Stds I to V in schools, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis told reporters in Pune on Sunday said that govt will soon introduce a provision for students to choose any Indian language—not just Hindi—as their third language in schools.
He said such a provision can be implemented in some border areas of the state where using two different languages has been the culture for years.
Earlier on Sunday, the language advisory committee of Maharashtra, in a letter to the state govt, urged the chief minister to withdraw the decision to make Hindi a compulsory language for Stds I to V. The letter said govt's April 16 directive was neither academically justified nor "in tune with students' psychology".
The directive announced the implementation of National Education Policy (NEP) in Maharashtra — and with it, the clause that Hindi would be taught as third language from Std I, resulting in a clamour on social media with criticism led by opposition parties.
Maharashtra is the second major state after Tamil Nadu where introducing a compulsory third language in primary school is leading to a blowback. The decision to make Hindi a compulsory third language in Maharashtra was taken following the recommendation by a committee headed by a state minister.
Fadnavis said, "Under the New Education Policy, teaching three languages in schools is compulsory, and two of them should be Indian. Since we already have an adequate number of teachers to teach Hindi across the state, it was advised to make it a third compulsory language. If we choose any other Indian language like Tamil, Gujarati, Kannada, or Malayalam, we do not have enough teachers for them."
However, govt will soon make a decision to allow students to opt for any other language than Hindi as their third compulsory language, he added. "If the student count for such a demand is more than 20, a dedicated teacher can be provided, otherwise, for fewer students, provisions like online teaching can be made available," he said.
The CM said that such a provision can be implemented in border areas of Maharashtra where there is already a culture of speaking two different languages, and govt will not face difficulties in finding a teacher to teach that particular language. Several villages on the border of Karnataka also speak Kannada, while villages on the Telangana border speak Telugu.
Fadnavis said that though he did not read the letter, everyone should know that Marathi is still a compulsory language in the state and Hindi has not replaced it. It is wrong to say that Hindi is being imposed, he added.
The chief minister added, "I wonder how we oppose Hindi but promote and celebrate English. We must reflect upon why we consider English closer than Hindi."
The language committee warned that the 3-language policy is "unscientific" and could place unnecessary pressure on young students. They suggested instead that a requirement for only two languages, including Marathi, should be enforced until Std XII.
The committee's letter said, "Ideally, the SCERT (State Council of Educational Research and Training) Pune should have consulted the committee before making such decisions. If we were consulted, there would be no need to draft this letter. Our membership includes both professors and recognised experts in linguistics and language sciences. Post-consultation, we formally requested a repeal of this decision," a point highlighted by all signatories to the letter, including panel chief Laxmikant Deshmukh.
Deshmukh told TOI, "All members of the committee took a collective stand to advise against the state govt decision. We already have Hindi as a compulsory language for students in Std VI to X, and there was no need to implement it for Std I to V."
The committee further said, "We ought to recommend that CBSE and ICSE schools commence Hindi instruction from the sixth standard onwards, not from the first, as has been proposed. Simply replicating the pattern of these schools for the state board is inappropriate." Tracing the history of the state's language policy, it said the tri-language policy was adopted upon suggestions by the Kothari Commission for introducing Hindi from the fifth standard.
"As both Marathi and Hindi use the Devanagari script, students transition comfortably between the two. But linguistic and child psychology experts find no compelling case for imposing Hindi from the first standard," it added, adding that policies in India have always promoted language learning at secondary and university levels.
The Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan-led committee, which created the framework for educational policies, recommended language learning from the sixth to eighth standards, it recalled. Pupils were expected to become proficient in three languages through secondary and university education.
Referencing the National Educational Policy 2020, the committee highlighted that children were recommended to develop mother tongue proficiency by standard two, English by standard six, and Hindi by the end of standard nine. "…there is no rationale to introduce Hindi from the first standard," the committee added.
Citing practical concerns, the advisory committee noted severe teacher shortages, with schools hiring staff on contract, lowering educational quality. Findings from the Annual Status of Education Report also reveal that about 31% of class 8 students nationwide are unable to read text in their mother tongue and, per the 2022 report, over 53.3% struggle with English reading, with Maharashtra reflecting similar trends.
The committee therefore argued for prioritising education quality. The letter lists signatories including Deshmukh, Dr Pandit Vidyasagar, Shripad Bhalchandra Joshi, Dr P Vitthal, Dr Prithviraj Taur, Dr A P Deshpande, Jayashree Desai, Anupama Ujaagare, Prof Milind Joshi, Ganesh Chandanshive.
In Pune, SCERT director Rahul Rekhawar continued to defend the plan to enforce NEP from class one saying, "Hindi is not new to Maharashtra's children," he said. "Its script—Devanagari—is almost the same as Marathi."
Rekhawar said the pedagogy of Hindi will mirror that of Marathi. The shift, he argued, would not burden students but help cognitive development. Also, almost all primary teachers are competent to teach Hindi as well. He added, "This is the beginning of a new policy considering multiple constraints. But the importance of Marathi will never be compromised."