Mumbai, June 18 -- The Maharashtra government has mandated Hindi as a compulsory third language for students in Classes 1 to 5 across all Marathi and English medium schools, triggering immediate backlash from Marathi language advocates who accuse the state of a "backdoor imposition."
The directive, issued on Tuesday by the School Education Department, forms part of implementing the 'State Curriculum Framework for School Education 2024' under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The order stipulates that Hindi must be studied "generally" as the third language by all students in these primary grades. While offering a conditional alternative, the policy sets a high bar: students wishing to learn any other Indian language instead of Hin...