The Maharashtra government has decided to offer English as an optional subject to students of classes 11-12. As per draft curriculum prepared by the State Council for Education, Research and Training (SCERT) of the Maharashtra Government, the subject has been classified as a foreign language and non-compulsory for classes 11 and 12.
English is currently offered as a compulsory subject for the two classes.
The draft curriculum recommends teaching of eight subjects in classes 11-12. These subjects should include two languages, four elective subjects and two compulsory subjects. Of two languages, one has to be chosen from a group of 17 Indian languages including Marathi, Sanskrit, Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Sindhi, Bengali, Punjabi, Pali, Telugu, Ardhamagadhi, Maharashtri Prakrit, Avesta-Pahalvi.
English has been included in the category of foreign languages along with German, French, Russian, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese, Persian and Arabic.
Students are required to mandatorily opt for one Indian language group. The second language could be from either the Indian language group or the foreign language group. English, thus, would not be a compulsory language.
The SCERT has published the draft SCF on the official website. Interested stakeholders can submit their suggestions related to the draft curriculum by June 3. The draft is open to public suggestions. The council will publish the final version of the curriculum after considering the feedback from the stakeholders.
As per a report in The Indian Express, the draft curriculum also proposes the inclusion of Indian Knowledge Systems. The recommendations demand incorporating ancient Indian references from history into modern learning. Courses on the Indian Knowledge systems will be brought in from class 6.
The SCF also suggests on offering students the choice to choose subjects from across disciplines, as mentioned in the New Education Policy (NEP) of 2020. The students can opt for subjects from a multidisciplinary approach and not restrict to Arts, Commerce, and Science stream.