SCERT releases revised timetable structure for Class 1 to accomodate third language

The State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) on Thursday released a revised timetable structure for Class 1 to accommodate a third language. This came a day after the Maharashtra government issued a revised Government Resolution (GR) stating that Hindi will be taught as the third language in Marathi and English medium schools across the state for Classes 1 to 5.
With the new timetable, the stipulated minutes to be spent on each subject have been reduced, creating a major gap from what is recommended under National Curriculum Framework (NCF).
The document released by SCERT, adds a third language to Classes 1 and 2 formally, as until now, the only official document in this regard, which is State Curriculum Framework-Foundation Stage (FS), recommended only two languages for these classes, as per NCF.
'The changes will be applicable to Class 1 from academic year 2025-26. Whereas for Class 2, these changes will be applied after the introduction of the new syllabus and curriculum as per the SCF,' states the document released by SCERT Director Rahul Rekhawar.
Even as the NCF-recommended timetable structure suggests 50 to 60 minutes spent on each subject, the state's revised timetable structure reduced it to 35 minutes.
'This was bound to happen as the NCF-FS includes only seven subjects, whereas the state has added one more subject by introducing a third language from Class 1. To accommodate the additional subject, time spent on all other subjects has been reduced,' said Mahendra Ganpule, former head of the Maharashtra School Principals Association.
The note released by SCERT also provides a sample timetable. It states 'Schools can design their own timetable, based on their timings. But they will have to stick to the stipulated time mandate per subject.'
According to schools, this announcement has come very late as schools have already started and structuring the timetable is finalised way before that.
'Now that we are almost a week into the new academic year, a new timetable guideline has been issued. Schools have already started with the timetable structure issued in the past in the SCF-FS, which does not include a third language for Class 1,' said a senior teacher.
Schools have also complained that the government has included a new subject into the timetable structure for Class 1, without clarity on teachers to teach the third language, alternatives to Hindi, and curriculum guidelines.

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