‘Hindi from Class 6’ chorus at three-language committee’ public meet in Pune

Speakers at the meeting were asked about their views on whether Hindi should be introduced in schools from Class 1, 3, 6, or 9 onwards. They were also asked if conversational Hindi should be introduced at an earlier stage instead of a formal examination.

Nandkumar Sagar, state secretary, Maharashtra State Secondary and Higher Secondary School Headmaster’s Association, said a third language can put more load on students and accordingly Hindi should be introduced from Class 6. Conversational Hindi is not required to be introduced at earlier grades, he said.

Dr Noor Jahan Shaikh from the Spoken Marathi Academy at Azam Campus said the mother tongue or Marathi should be the only language introduced from Class 1. “For Class 3 English can be introduced as it is the language of business and the world. From Class 6 onwards Hindi can be taught. Later, options for third languages like Urdu and others should also be given.”

Educationists like Vasant Kalpande, Bhau Gawande, Shivaji Kamthe, Prasad Gaikwad, Mahendra Ganpule, and Nandkumar Sagar also supported the introduction of Hindi from Class 6 onwards. However, social worker Girish Prabhune said children in schools run by him do not have a problem learning multiple languages at once. A few others suggested that Hindi should not be introduced as a third language at all, while a few suggested that languages other than Hindi should also be allowed as the third language.

Anand Katikar, Professor at Department of Marathi at Fergusson College, opined that even though English was introduced in 2000 as an optional language, it has now become compulsory with exams from Class 1 onwards. He said, “What have we achieved with English education from Class 1? A survey should be done first. After that, the policy should be decided. There is no problem with Hindi being conversational from Class 3 and formal from Class 9. Teachers should also be trained for this.”

Several representatives of political parties also turned up at the meeting to express their views. BJP Rajya Sabha MP Medha Kulkarni said, “In my many years of experience as a teacher I have observed that kids have a great ability to absorb things. Maybe teachers or the system face pressure in teaching but the kids do not. I can give the example of my own grandchild who is able to name countries on the world map.”