Raj Thackeray Opposes Mandatory Hindi in Maharashtra Schools Under NEP 2020

Maharashtra has been experiencing the outrage of use of Marathi language in public space after MNS Chief Raj Thackeray's Gudi Padwa speech. Post this on Thursday Raj Thackeray opposed to make Hindi being made mandatory third language in schools as apart of curriculum under National Education policy (NEP)2020 in the state. While opposing that he said his party will not allow the center to Hindi-fy everything. The implementation of NEP 2020 will make hindi mandatory s a third language for students from 1st to 5th in marathi and english medium school starting from 2025-26.

Raj Thackeray's post on X read, "We are Hindus but not Hindi! If you try to paint Maharashtra as Hindi, then there is bound to be a struggle in Maharashtra. If you look at all this, you will realise that the government is deliberately creating this struggle. Is this all an attempt to create a struggle between Marathi and non-Marathi people in the upcoming elections and take advantage of it? Whatever your trilingual formula is, limit it to government affairs, do not bring it to education. Linguistic regionalization was done in this country, and it lasted for so many years. But why have you just now started imposing the language of another region on Maharashtra? The very principle of linguistic regionalisation is being undermined," Thackeray wrote.

The Maharashtra government has outlined a detailed plan for implementing the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, starting from the 2025-26 academic year. A key feature of this plan is introducing Hindi as a mandatory third language in Grades 1-5 for Marathi and English medium schools.

राज्य शालेय अभ्यासक्रम आराखडा २०२४ नुसार महाराष्ट्रात पहिलीपासूनच हिंदी ही भाषा अनिवार्य करण्यात आली आहे. मी स्वच्छ शब्दांत सांगतो की ही सक्ती महाराष्ट्र नवनिर्माण सेना खपवून घेणार नाही.

केंद्र सरकारचं सध्या जे सर्वत्र 'हिंदीकरण' करण्याचे प्रयत्न सुरू आहेत, ते या राज्यात आम्ही…

— Raj Thackeray (@RajThackeray) April 17, 2025

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Maharashtra's phased implementation of the policy will begin with Grade 1 in 2025-26 and reach all grades by 2028-29. The state will adopt the 5+3+3+4 model, with SCERT and Balbharati developing localised curriculum. Hindi will be a compulsory third language for Grades 1-5 in Marathi and English medium schools.

The government aims to train 80% of teachers in new pedagogical methods and digital tools by 2025. In March, the Steering Committee approved adopting the CBSE curriculum framework for grades 3-12 starting in 2025-26, aligning Maharashtra's education with NEP 2020.