Class 1 students in Marathi medium schools to learn via bilingual books: Maha Edu Minister

Students understand better what is taught to them in their mother tongue. But they should also understand English words (for Marathi words), said Maharashtra School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad.

Maharashtra has allocated Rs 2354 crore to school education, Rs 1619 crore to the higher and technical education department. File.

Integrated and bilingual textbooks will be introduced for Class 1 students in Marathi medium schools from the coming academic year, Maharashtra School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad said on Monday. Gaikwad made the comments while replying to queries raised by some MLAs in the Assembly.

“Students understand better what is taught to them in their mother tongue. But they should also understand English words (for Marathi words). We are also committed to reducing the burden of their books. So, we will introduce integrated plus bilingual books from class 1 in the state,” the minister said.

विधानसभेत आज शालेय शिक्षण विभागाच्या अर्थसंकल्पातील अनुदानाच्या मागण्यांवर सकारात्मक चर्चा होऊन त्या बहुमताने मान्य करण्यात आल्या. चर्चेदरम्यान दोन्ही बाजूंच्या सदस्यांनी अनेक मौल्यवान सूचना केल्या. सर्व सूचनांची नोंद माझ्या विभागाने घेतली आहे. #mahabudget2022 pic.twitter.com/xBYPOdLtTf

— Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad (@VarshaEGaikwad) March 21, 2022

Yesterday, the Maharashtra state government also announced the budget for 2022. Gaikwad took to Twitter and said, “The demands for grants in the school education department’s budget were positively discussed in the assembly and they were accepted by a majority. During the discussion, members of both sides made a number of valuable suggestions. My department has taken note of all the suggestions.” — With inputs from PTI.