NSD director, child psychologist on Maharashtra govt panel on 3-language policy in schools

Mumbai, Sep 5 (PTI) The Maharashtra government on Friday announced the appointment of members to a committee headed by educationist Dr Narendra Jadhav, formed to frame a three-language policy for schools in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The seven members named to the panel include National School of Drama (NSD) director Dr Waman Kendre, educationists and a child psychologist. Their appointment comes in the backdrop of a controversy over teaching Hindi in Marathi and English medium schools and the Opposition claim of Hindi "imposition" in Maharashtra.

According to a government resolution (GR): the panel will include Kendre, Dr Sadanand More, former chairperson of the State Language Advisory Committee; Dr Aparna Morris, educationist from Pune; Sonali Kulkarni Joshi, head of linguistics, Deccan College, Pune; Dr Madhushree Savji, educationist from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar; and child psychologist Dr Bhushan Shukla from Pune.

Sanjay Yadav, state project director of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, Mumbai, will serve as the member-secretary, said the GR.

The government had, through its order of June 30, 2025, constituted the panel under Dr Jadhav's chairmanship to determine the framework of the policy. As per its mandate, the committee will function within the scope mentioned in that order and submit its report within three months.

With the appointment of the expert members, the Jadhav committee is now expected to draft recommendations that balance the directives of NEP 2020 with the state's linguistic priorities, while addressing long-standing sensitivities around the role of Marathi in the school curriculum.

Dr Jadhav was a member of the now dissolved Planning Commission and also served as the Vice- Chancellor of the Pune university.

For decades, the three-language formula for schools has been a contentious subject in Maharashtra, where Marathi is the dominant language.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), along with other Opposition parties, have repeatedly voiced concern that introducing Hindi more prominently alongside English could erode the primacy of Marathi in schools.

Student organisations and Marathi advocacy groups have staged protests in the past demanding that Marathi remain the central language of instruction in the state.

The objections resurfaced after the NEP 2020 was unveiled, with Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS leaders warning against what they termed as a "Hindi imposition" that would undermine Maharashtra's linguistic identity.

A fresh language row erupted in Maharashtra after the state government issued two orders, in April and June, to add Hindi as a subject in state schools from Classes 1 to 5.

Following the controversy, the government rolled back the orders and appointed a new committee to frame a three-language policy for schools in line with the NEP 2020. PTI ND RSY