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Hindustan Times
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Maharashtra: SCERT issues revised timetable to introduce third language in primary schools
Mumbai: A day after the Maharashtra government issued a revised government resolution (GR) making a third language compulsory in state-run schools, the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) on Thursday released a new daily academic timetable. The revised schedule adjusts teaching hours across subjects to accommodate the third language from Class 1 onwards. As per the circular, the changes are aimed at aligning the total annual instructional hours with the National Curriculum Framework's (NCF's) requirement of 990 academic hours. However, to allot teaching hours for the third language, the SCERT has reduced teaching time for subjects like art education, physical training, and work experience, now renamed as 'work education'. As per the NCF, the third language is also supposed to be taught only from Class 5. The revised timetable has drawn criticism from educationists and school principals, who said that the changes could compromise students' overall learning experience, especially in areas meant to foster creativity and physical development. According to the revised plan, the number of teaching hours for core subjects like the first and second languages and mathematics remains largely in line with NCF recommendations, which are in accordance with the National Education Policy 2020. However, art education, which the NCF suggests should be taught for 144 hours annually, has now been allotted just 81.67 hours under the new SCERT schedule. The SCERT has also, for the first time, provided a sample timetable to help schools plan their academic day. While the sample timetable itself is not mandatory, the subject-wise allocation of teaching hours must be followed. Unlike the NCF's recommendation of 45- to 50-minute periods, the Maharashtra government has opted for shorter 35-minute sessions. However, two consecutive periods may be combined to provide extended time for certain subjects. The SCERT circular clarified that the revised daily schedule, as per the GR dated June 17, will apply to state board schools of all language mediums for class 1 this academic year and then class 2 from next year. Mahendra Ganpule, former spokesperson of the State Principals Association, questioned the logic behind introducing a third language from Class 1. 'Without any clear rationale, the government has introduced a third language from the very beginning of schooling. And now, they've issued a timetable that cuts into the time meant for other important subjects. The NCF doesn't even mandate instructional hours for the third language at the foundational level. Then why is the government insisting on pushing it?' he said. The state's June 17 GR had earlier drawn flak for making Hindi the default third language unless at least 20 students in a class opt for an alternative. Education experts and opposition leaders said it was in effect a backdoor entry of the state's earlier proposal to make Hindi a compulsory language in state board schools.
Time of India
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Schools reopened, but 3rd language books not ready
Pune: While the three-language policy has been made mandatory for state board schools from Class I to V from this year, the govt has not printed any third language textbooks for students and teachers to follow though the new academic sessions has already started. Even syllabi for the third languages are not ready, sources said. Officials from Balbharati, the textbook production bureau, said they can start printing the books only after receiving the work order. Mahendra Ganpule, spokesperson for Maharashtra School Principals Federation, said syllabi must be approved before printing, so it will be 2-3 months into the academic year before students get the textbooks. Officials from Balbharati, the textbook production bureau of the state, said they can start printing the books only after receiving the work order from Maharashtra Prathamik Shiksha Parishad, which is responsible for providing free textbooks in civic schools from Class I to VIII and in the open market. Class I students in mediums other than Marathi have not yet received Marathi books as they have not been printed. Rahul Rekhawar, director of SCERT, said the syllabus for Marathi textbook for Class I for students studying in mediums other than Marathi and English has been finalised, and the book is almost ready. "Balbharati will be able to print textbooks and distribute them across the state in about a month. For third language books of other languages, we will complete the process based on the same syllabus, which is easy and interactive and focuses only on listening and speaking age-appropriate and need-based sentences," he added. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Scam Exposed: What They Won't Tell You about zero trust! Expertinspector Click Here Undo The govt resolution on Tuesday said Hindi is no longer a mandatory third language and students can choose any other Indian language as the third language. Balbharati's director K K Patil said for third language textbooks or any other textbooks, they need to know the number of books to print. "The requirement order comes from Samagra Shiksha project under Maharashtra Prathamik Shiksha Parishad, which is the nodal body that distributes free textbooks to all local body-run schools and others for Classes I to VIII. Once we get an order from MPSP as well as the demand from the open market, we will be able to print the entire set within 10 days. " Vasant Kalpande, ex-chairman of Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, said when they opposed the April GR making Hindi compulsory, the education minister promised a committee and dialogue to look into the third language controversy. But a decision was unilaterally made.
Time of India
14 hours ago
- General
- Time of India
Time for art & sports cut as teaching hrs revised to bring in third language
Mumbai: To accommodate the inclusion of a third language in the Class I timetable from this academic year, the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has revised and reallocated instructional hours across subjects. This is the first such exercise undertaken in the state since 2017. While the number of hours allotted to the first and second languages as well as mathematics are almost similar to the recommendations of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), the state has reduced the time allocated for art and physical education and work experience to make room for the third language. The weekly and annual subject-wise instructional hours will now be binding on all schools. The reallocation of instructional hours comes two days after Maharashtra issued a govt resolution (GR) making a three-language policy mandatory for the state board's Marathi and English medium schools from Class I to V. The GR said Hindi will not be a mandatory third language; students can choose any other Indian language, but a teacher will be available only if there are at least 20 students in class, else the language has to be taught online. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like O aparelho que os idosos descobriram para aliviar dores nos nervos e formigamento. A arte do herbalismo Undo The duration of each session has also been reduced to 35 minutes in the new guidelines, as opposed to 45 mins followed earlier in the state. But two sessions can be clubbed together to give more time to students for the respective subjects, mentioned the circular issued by SCERT on Thursday. The NCF, on the other hand, recommends 45-60 minutes per session. The council, for the first time, has also recommended a sample timetable that can be followed by primary schools. While the timetable can be modified at school level as per their requirement, the weekly and annual instructional hours cannot be reduced by them, mentioned the circular. According to the guidelines, the first and second language have been allocated 306 and 180 hours annually and the third language will be given a little over 100 hours. The national framework does not recommend a third language at Class I level, and therefore, has no provision. Mahendra Ganpule, former head, Maharashtra School Principals' Association, said they are reducing time given to overall development of students in arts, physical education and work experience to accommodate a third language, which is not even recommended in the NCF. In the time in which two languages are to be taught, they will now be teaching three, he added. SCERT will also soon come out with an academic calendar for Class I, for which a new syllabus has been introduced. "The calendar will provide a chapter-wise teaching schedule for the class to help teachers distribute syllabus evenly across the year and avoid last-minute rushes," said director, SCERT, Rahul Rekhawar. He added the timetable has made provision for additional enrichment periods (AEP), a new initiative, to allow teachers to provide extra guidance to students.
Indian Express
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
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.
Hindustan Times
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
FYJC admission schedule postponed by 10 days
Mumbai: The confusion around First Year Junior College (FYJC) or Class 11 online admissions deepens as the Directorate of Education has once again revised the official schedule, just a day before admissions were to begin. The first merit list, which was to be released on June 10, will now be released on June 26. A junior college principal from Andheri said, 'This is not the first change in the process. Since the release of the original government resolution for the FYJC admission procedure, the schedule has already been altered three times. The timeline for in-house and minority quota admissions has also been revised twice. With the latest update, both the zero round merit list and the Centralised Admission Process (CAP) schedule have been pushed further, complicating the process even more.' As per the first FYJC schedule announced by the department on May 18, the first merit list was to be declared on June 6. This date was postponed to June 10, and now June 26. As per the new schedule, the in-house and minority quota admissions will take place between June 12 to June 14. Students who are allotted colleges in the first merit list need to visit the respective colleges and confirm their admission between June 27 and July 3. Ankush Waghmare, a parent from Thane, said that this change would further delay the start of the academic year. He added that earlier the government had scheduled colleges to begin on July 1, but he now expects them to start only in August. Mahendra Ganpule, former spokesperson of Maharashtra state principals association, said, 'The government is trying to implement this online admission process across the state without proper planning, or any dummy rounds.' He added that the government must take responsibility for the confusion, fix the issue, and complete the process on time to give relief to students. Shriram Panzade, director of secondary and higher education, acknowledged the delay in the admission process and said that they would try to start the academic year as early as possible. He added that this will be their first time conducting admissions online, and processing more that 1.2 million students' data would take time. 'After the first round we will be able to do other rounds seamlessly,' he added.
