Making Hindi compulsory neither political nor meant to undermine Marathi: Rahul Rekhawar

PUNE: Making Hindi a compulsory subject has nothing to do with politics, nor is it intended to undermine Marathi or impose Hindi, clarified Rahul Rekhawar, director, State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), during a press conference held in Pune on Thursday.

As per a new decision announced through an ordinance issued by the school education department, students from class 1 onwards will now be required to study Hindi. According to the State Curriculum Framework for School Education 2024, Hindi will be a compulsory third language for classes 1 to 5 in both Marathi- and English- medium schools. However, the decision has sparked controversy with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray voicing strong opposition. In response, Rekhawar on Thursday addressed the media to offer a clarification.

“Maharashtra is a leading state in education with many of its practices adopted by the NCERT. Similarly, we have adopted progressive elements from NCERT. Despite this, we are working on developing textbooks of even higher quality. There is absolutely no intention to degrade Marathi or the identity of Maharashtra,” Rekhawar said. He added that from class 6 onwards, students will have the option to learn a foreign language with proper training provided for teachers.

Rekhawar acknowledged Raj Thackeray’s position on the issue but reiterated that the move is purely student-centric and unrelated to politics. He urged Raj Thackeray to reconsider his stand and extend support to the decision.

“Hindi is not new for students in Maharashtra — it has been compulsory from class 5 onwards. Students are already familiar with it. Foundational education will continue in the mother tongue, so there will be no difficulty in reading and writing. Hindi is being introduced earlier only to broaden the students’ vocabulary,” Rekhawar said.

Citing research, he said that children learn languages more effectively at a young age, which benefits them in the long run. He also clarified that special teachers will not be required for Hindi and that SCERT will eventually train teachers from both government and private-aided and unaided schools.

Rekhawar further mentioned that changes in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) will be introduced over time. “There will be reforms in assessment methods — moving beyond written exams. A holistic progress report will be created, covering various aspects of a student’s development including classroom behaviour, artistic skills, and other abilities. The Academic Bank of Credit will play a crucial role, and the PARAKH (Performance, Assessment, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development) system will guide assessment policies,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Raj Thackeray in a post on X criticised the ordinance and the Centre’s three-language policy. Raj Thackeray — whose party has consistently advocated a ‘Marathi first’ policy — said that Maharashtra should emulate the southern states’ resistance to Hindi.

“Whatever your trilingual formula is, keep it limited to government affairs — don’t bring it into education,” Raj Thackeray wrote. The MNS, he asserted, “will not allow the Centre’s efforts to ‘Hindi-ify’ everything in this state.”

He added, “We are Hindus but not Hindi. If you try to paint Maharashtra with Hindi, there will inevitably be a struggle. It seems the government is deliberately creating this tension between Marathi and non-Marathi people ahead of elections for its political gain.”

Congress legislature party leader Vijay Wadettiwar also demanded the immediate withdrawal of the notification introducing Hindi as a compulsory third language. “The mother tongue of Maharashtra is Marathi. While Marathi and English are used in education and administration, forcibly imposing Hindi is an injustice to Marathi and an attack on the identity of its speakers,” he said.