Nagpur: The state government has thrown the rule book at CBSE affiliated schools in city and asked them to implement the three language rule in toto with Marathi being a mandatory component till Std VIII. When school education minister Vinod Tawde was apprised of the issue that many city schools do not have Marathi language as part of their elementary education curriculum, he instructed local education officials to immediately take stock. “As per the law, regardless of the board they are affiliated to, schools have to teach Marathi,” said Tawde. Local education officials were not only clueless about the rule but also whether or not this was being implemented in city. Few CBSE schools have Marathi at primary level but almost all of them skip the higher primary section. Deputy director of education (DDE) office has now dug out government resolutions (GR) which clarified the state’s stand on the issue. An official from DDE (Nagpur division), provided TOI a copy of GR from August 2009 in which clause number seven clearly mentions that Marathi is to be taught at non-state board schools. The clause reads “CBSE/ICSE/IB/IGSCE/CIE curriculum schools till Std VIII will follow three language system. Marathi should be taught as the second language”. Another official told TOI that implementing this in CBSE schools becomes an issue because of the jurisdiction. “Their reporting authority is in Delhi and we are not entertained in CBSE schools. Even during Right to Education (RTE) 25% quota admissions we are faced with strong opposition,” said the official. Many CBSE schools were not even aware of the state’s rule to have Marathi right till Std VIII. Those who were aware said it was only through media reports and journalists and not through a direct letter from the education department. Another principal said, “CBSE has a two language system from Std I-IV, then switches to a three language system from Std V-VIII before reverting to two language in Std IX and X. So keeping Marathi as a compulsory language creates a lot of issues for all of us.” Some other principals told TOI that they hope the education department briefs them on the problem. A senior CBSE principal told TOI that most of them would be happy to introduce this rule but it has to be done systematically. “Marathi is not the mother tongue of every student and that is why it is important to implement it first at the junior level and the progress stepwise. Suddenly if they want to have Marathi at all levels how will the student of Std VIII cope with a language he or she has never studied,” she asked.

