Maharashtra CM Fadnavis orders anti-drug lessons in school curriculum

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has instructed officials to begin integrating lessons on drug de-addiction into the school curriculum. Maharashtra continues to rank among the country's leading states in school education and is strengthening its pupil-centric system by balancing quality, promotion of Marathi, preservation of history and modern facilities, Fadnavis said on Monday.

Chairing a review meeting of the School Education Department, he directed officials to initiate the process of incorporating lessons on drug de-addiction into the school curriculum, an official release said.

The chief minister noted the state government has decided to set up anti-drug guidance and counselling committees in schools and launch a "Drug-Free School" campaign.

He directed officials to implement stringent measures to strengthen school safety and prevent cyber fraud and drug abuse among students.

Fadnavis maintained that following the state's efforts, the Centre has given greater coverage to the history of the 17th-century warrior-king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in NCERT textbooks.

Marathi compulsory in schools

He suggested that the curriculum should be further expanded to widely cover the legendary Maratha king's legacy. Officials informed the meeting that teaching Marathi and conducting examinations in the language has been made compulsory in all schools affiliated with the SSC, CBSE, ICSE and IB boards across the state.

Maharashtra has retained the second position in the national Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 for school education, Fadnavis said and stressed the need to implement innovative initiatives across all schools, including PM SHRI schools.

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He reviewed the implementation of key initiatives, including Aadhaar authentication of school students, educational benefits provided to 35 lakh students under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, the 'Pavitra' teacher recruitment portal and the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

According to a presentation made at the meeting, Maharashtra accounts for 9.34 per cent of the country's schools, 8.84 per cent of teachers and 7.69 per cent of students. The state has 108,065 schools with 22,048,443 students and maintains a student-teacher ratio of 28:1.

Maharashtra govt schools

Of these, 64,341 are government schools, 29,486 are government-aided private ones, while the remaining are self-financed institutions and central government schools.

The government is implementing several initiatives to improve school education, including the Nipun Maharashtra Mission, Rashtriya Pratham campaign, the "Majhi Shala Sundar Shala" (My School, Beautiful School) initiative and enrolment drives, officials informed.

Teachers are being provided online training through AI-based platforms. Exposure visits, adoption of schools, CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) partnerships and the "Super 100" scheme are also being promoted.

Under the scheme, 100 meritorious students from rural areas in every district will be selected for high-quality coaching for competitive examinations such as NEET and JEE, the release said. School Education Minister Dadaji Bhuse and other senior officials attended the meeting.