Undermining Marathi won’t be tolerated: Supriya Sule on NEP

Pune: NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule on Saturday strongly opposed the MahaYuti government’s decision to introduce Hindi as the third compulsory language in classes 1 to 5 in English and Marathi schools, saying it would not be tolerated.

“Undermining Marathi in the forceful implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in Maharashtra would not be tolerated. I was the first to oppose the Education Minister’s statement about making the CBSE board compulsory in Maharashtra. What is the need to replace the existing state board with CBSE? Before discussing the language issue, we must talk about the basic education infrastructure in the state,” the NCP (SP) MP told media persons.

Citing the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), referred to by the Centre, Sule emphasised the need for evaluation of students’ performance in mathematics, science and languages.

She said the government should not rush into implementing the NEP, as it would adversely affect students, and teachers were not prepared for the change.

“If the implementation of the NEP in Maharashtra causes any loss to the Marathi language, it will not be tolerated. Marathi will be the priority,” she added.

Sule said that a stable and progressive government was expected after receiving a huge mandate in Maharashtra. “Unfortunately, in the last 100 days, there has been no remarkable progress,” she added.

Sule’s statement comes after the opposition has slammed the state government for its move. The Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, has defended the government’s decision, saying: “We have already implemented the New Education Policy. Therefore, no new decisions have been taken in this regard. It is our insistence that everyone in Maharashtra should know Marathi. Also, there should be a single language for communication across the country. Hindi is a language that can be a language for communication. Therefore, people should also learn Hindi, this is our effort.”

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray announced that the MNS will not tolerate this compulsion, and appealed to the state government to immediately withdraw the decision, saying, “If it is not withdrawn, then the struggle is inevitable.”

Congress accused the BJP-led MahaYuti government of trying to destroy the Marathi language, identity and culture by imposing Hindi as a compulsory language in classes 1 to 5 in English and Marathi schools.

The state unit chief, Harshwardhan Sapkal, said that the Marathi language is the identity and culture of Maharashtra, and the BJP government is trying to undermine this very culture.

“Unity in diversity is India’s true identity, and the BJP is conspiring to erase that. The decision to impose Hindi as a compulsory language from the primary level is completely wrong and must be withdrawn immediately,” he said.

IANS