Maharashtra makes Hindi ‘general’ third language in schools

The Maharashtra government has issued a fresh order stating that Hindi will be taught as a third language to students in Marathi and English medium schools in the State from Classes 1 to 5.

An amended government order issued on Tuesday (June 17, 2025) said Hindi will "generally" be the third language, instead of being mandatory, but gave an option to opt out if 20 students per grade in a school express the desire to study any Indian language other than Hindi.

The Maharashtra School Education Department issued the government resolution (GR) on Tuesday as part of the implementation of the 'State Curriculum Framework for School Education 2024', aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

According to the GR, Hindi will "generally" be the third language for students from Classes 1 to 5 in Marathi and English medium schools.