English not compulsory in Class 11 and 12: What Maharashtra’s draft curriculum framework for state board says

Here is what the draft says.

What are the changes proposed in the SCF for school education?

Major changes have been proposed at the level of Class 11 and 12, also called Junior College in Maharashtra. Until now, studying English and a second language was mandatory, but the draft suggests the discontinuation of English as a compulsory subject. Instead, two languages will be studied, where one has to be of Indian origin.

Interested students can take up English, but it has been categorised as a foreign language according to the new subject combination scheme. The SCF’s language chart mentions 17 native Indian languages and nine foreign languages, with English at the top of the list. Overall, there will be eight subjects for Junior College, including two languages.

Further, the SCF aims to slowly eliminate stream-specific learning, or under the categorisations of Arts, Commerce, and Science. Eventually, a multidisciplinary approach will be brought in, allowing students the freedom to choose subjects from across disciplines, as mentioned in the New Education Policy (NEP) of 2020.

Will students learn English in junior classes?

The draft SCF-SE lacks clarity on the English language policy for classes 3 to 10, where English was mandatory until now. The existing system has three languages with English and Marathi compulsory, while the draft has different suggestions.

For Classes 3 to 5 there will be two languages. The first language can be either the mother tongue or the state language (Marathi), and the second language can be any other language. However, this has come under some criticism. A section of English medium schools said that considering Maharashtra’s significant migrant population, they will face problems in catering to students from diverse backgrounds. In some cases, English would have to be eliminated and this would pose a problem for them.

For classes 6 to 8, the proposed subject scheme recommends three languages without specifying the combination. For classes 9 and 10, two out of three languages must be of Indian origin. Some educational experts find that doing so would be contradictory to the Maharashtra government’s 2021 decision, which made Marathi a mandatory subject in all schools.

Vasant Kalpande, an educationist in the state, said, “Maharashtra was also among first states to have introduced English language as a mandatory subject from primary level schooling. This was considered as a visionary move, realising it was the need of the hour. But the proposed SCF is taking school education a few steps behind.”

The SCF also proposes introducing vocational education as a formal subject choice at the school level.

What does the draft say about board exams?

When the SCF was in the making, it was anticipated that the board exams (Class 10 and Class 12) or the importance given to them would be reduced. However, according to the draft SCF, these exams will continue.

Additionally, they will continue to be one of the qualifying criteria for higher education admissions, along with respective entrance tests.

What are the other noteworthy changes in the SCF?

The proposed SCF includes emphasis on the Indian Knowledge Systems. It demands incorporating ancient Indian references from history into modern learning, such as Aryabhatta’s work in trigonometry and Pell’s Equation which was written earlier by Indian mathematician Bhaskar. Courses on Indian Knowledge systems will be brought in from as early as Class 6.