Gujarat govt mulls making 'Gujarati' a compulsory subject in schools

The Gujarat government is planning to make 'Gujarati' a compulsory subject in schools for all standards, and if possible introduce it for the next academic year, starting from June.

The education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama said, "Gujarati is our mother tongue and we don't want the next generation to forget our rich legacy and precious literature. We want children to learn how to speak, read and write Gujarati and the only way to do that is to include it in the curriculum."

"I have appointed an advisory committee, comprising senior officials and language and education experts. I have sought their suggestions on how the language can be taught to young students in schools, so that they are able to write and read the language," added Chudasama.

Chudasama said that this idea is his and the chief minister Vijay Rupani's brainchild. It came to them when they visited Gujarat Literature Festival in Ahmedabad. They both talked about it and decided that the young generation in Gujarat should not forget their mother tongue.

A senior official in the Gujarat government said, "Gujarati language is there in upper standards of schools as one of the subjects only. It also depends on the school whether they have a teacher for Gujarati or not. The language is not part of the curriculum in schools affiliated with boards other than Gujarat state board."

"Now we are thinking that the language should be made compulsory in all standards as a subject, and schools affiliated to any board. The state government has the power to compel them to teach Gujarati as a subject and recruit teachers, if not available."

The Gujarat government is also thinking of doing away with the no detention policy in standard 3, 5 and 8 in the primary section. The government has also informed the union ministry of human resource development that annual examinations should be held in these three standards to ensure quality in education, added the official.