The University of Pune (UoP) had announced a six-month diploma course for non-Marathi speakers last year,but it is still on paper till date. We were waiting for approval from the academic council,which we have recently received. The course will be started from the coming academic year, said Manohar Jadhav,head,department of Marathi,UoP. It is planned as an evening course that will offer a diploma certificate and will be conducted three-four times a week. The pilot batch aims at including around 20 students and the course syllabus will focus on Marathi in day-to-day life,Jadhav said. Meanwhile,the Symbiosis Institute of Foreign and Indian Languages (SIFIL) that has readied a diploma course to suit the vocabulary needs of non-Maharashtrians,has been unable to start it as there are few takers. SIFIL director Shirish Sahasrabuddhe said,The diploma course is ready,but there are very few takers. Unlike cities such as Chennai where a working knowledge of Tamil is essential,Puneites converse well in English and Hindi. The course,which was advertised in 2009,was scheduled to be for 90 hours over two-and-a- half months. We will advertise the course again this year, he said.
