Bengali a must in schools in Bengal, decides Mamata Banerjee Govt

Bengal goes the Maharastra way. Mamata Banerjee Government in Bengal has been a strong advocate of regional language being taught and respected alongside others. The Bengal Government in a cabinet meeting on Monday has decided to make Bengali language a mandatory subject in all schools in the state, if not as a first language then mandatorily as a second language for upper primary students and onwards. The rule will also be applied in private English medium schools, outside all government and government aided schools in the state. 

Students from class V till VIII have to study three languages under the 3 language formula where the third language could be a regional language or a foreign one but advisory could indicate priority be given to Bengali, Hindi or Sanskrit. 

The State Government has noticed that at most of the private English medium schools, students prefer Hindi or other languages as their choice for second language. In order to ensure Bengali isn’t offloaded from their syllabus completely, thus the cabinet decision was arrived at. “These days students are not learning Bengali properly. Many are opting for other languages as their second language. The state cabinet decided to change it, and make Bengali compulsory a second language so that the language of the region is learnt well by all. No one is against any language, but Bengali should also be taught and learnt” said an official who was part of the meeting on Monday. 

The cabinet meeting was chaired by Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. She has also gave not to setting up of Education Commission, headed by a retired HC Judge to look into complaints against private schools over fees and admission procedures.