India, Dec. 18 -- Unsafe school buildings combined with the preference of parents to educate their children through the English medium has led to a steady decline in the number of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) schools, which teach in vernacular languages such as Marathi, Hindi and Urdu, over the years. In the academic year of 2025-26, BMC vacated five school buildings after they were declared unsafe, compelling approximately 2400 students to change schools.

The Marathi Abhyas Kendra, which has been at the forefront of opposing the compulsion of Hindi from Class 1 across the state, has appealed to Marathi-speaking citizens to unite against these closures and participate in a protest outside the BMC headquarters on Thursday.

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