Students till Class 4 should be taught only in mother-tongue: Tara Bhavalkar
Press Trust of India | June 24, 2025 | 08:48 PM IST | 1 min read
Tara Bhavalkar's views came in the light of the Maharashtra government's policy on including Hindi as the third language in Classes 1-5.
Mumbai: Students till Class four should be taught only in their mother-tongue, according to Tara Bhavalkar, president of the 98th All India Marathi Literary Conference. “At that age, a student’s physical and mental capacity should be taken into consideration,” Bhavalkar, 86, said.
Her remarks came amid growing opposition to Maharashtra government’s policy on including Hindi as “generally” the third language in Marathi and English medium schools from Classes 1 to 5 from the academic year 2025-26. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said that a final decision on the three-language formula will be taken only after comprehensive consultations with all stakeholders.
“Forcing other languages on these students at this age will be unjust and non-educational,” Bhavalkar said. Bhavalkar also opposed teaching students English language from first standard itself. “This leads to the student not understanding his mother-tongue and the foreign language,” she added.
Follow us for the latest education news on colleges and universities, admission, courses, exams, research, education policies, study abroad and more..
To get in touch, write to us at news@careers360.com.
Next Story
]Emergency made part of school syllabus during UPA rule, 3 decades after imposition
The Emergency was added to NCERT textbooks in 2007 under UPA rule. In 2023, key portions were removed under the BJP's syllabus revision, drawing criticism over dilution of its historical impact.
Press Trust of India | 1 min readFeatured News
]- Maharashtra eases university teacher recruitment norms; academic weightage cut to 60% from 75%
- UP Budget 2026-27: Vocational education funds up 88%; 14 new medical colleges; school outlay highest
- 3 yrs after UGC guidelines, 80% central universities yet to appoint professors of practice, private ones lead
- NMC approves record 20,098 new MBBS, PG medical seats, 777 after initial rejection
- 2 years into paramedical courses, students find themselves in vocational training; 300 protest in North Bengal
- Vidya Pravesh: 4.2 crore students across 8.9 lakh schools covered, but numbers now falling consistently
- Over 7 lakh Kendriya Vidyalaya students assessed via education ministry’s TARA app, 1.46 lakh on career tool
- Caste on Campus: The shape of discrimination in universities and why many back UGC equity regulations
- Across Telangana’s new government medical colleges, 26 depts empty, 31 with single teachers: Doctors’ survey
- ‘No TET’: School teachers’ jobs at risk, hundreds in Delhi to rally against mandatory eligibility tests