Marathi made compulsory in schools

WHAT would be the common factor for standard I to IV students studying in non-Marathi schools?

WHAT would be the common factor for standard I to IV students studying in non-Marathi schools? All of them would compulsorily learn Marathi from the academic year 2009-10.

The Maharashtra Education department has decided to make Marathi a compulsory subject for all state board's non-Marathi schools. This would include Hindi, Urdu, Kannada, Tamil and Gujarati medium.

Sanjay Kumar, secretary, School Education said, "A survey was conducted in other states to check if the local language was compulsory for students. We found that it was compulsory in most states. So we took a decision to make Marathi a compulsory subject for Maharashtra State Board non-Marathi schools from Std I to IV. There needs to be an option for students, hence we didn't made it compulsory for Delhi board schools."

Dr Zahir Kazi, general secretary of Anjuman Islam trust, said, "Our trust has about 10 Urdu medium schools in the city. Learning any language is enlightenment. But parents might not understand that a compulsory subject like this would help their children in future."

Irfan Baig, whose daughter studies in standard II of Millat High School (Urdu medium), Jogeshwari said, "It's a good idea and I'll be thankful to the Maharashtra Government. I face difficulty whenever I have to interact with BMC officials. But now even I am learning Marathi."

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