In the latest move from the West Bengal government, it has said that every student will have to compulsorily study three languages from Class I to Class X, and one of them has to be Bengali.
This is irrespective of which board the school is under, or the student's mother tongue.
"From now on, it will be compulsory for students to learn Bengali in schools. English medium schools will have to make Bengali an optional subject from Class I so that the students can study it either as a second or third language," The Indian Express quoted State Education Minister as saying.
This move comes close on the heels of the Centre making Hindi compulsory for all CBSE and ICSE students from Class I to X.
Chatterjee was of the opinion that some schools in the state did not even offer Bengali as an option.
The Times of India quoted Chatterjee as saying, "India is a large nation and our strength is unity in diversity. We have received complaints that Bengali is not provided as an option in several schools."
Till now, in West Bengal students could study English and one other language till Class VI. From Class VII they had to choose a third language, which could be Indian or a foreign language.
But with this move, one of the three languages that the students choose has to be Bengali.
The Indian Express report said that when asked if English medium schools will abide by this rule, Chatterjee said all English medium schools in Bengal will have to give students the option of choosing Bengali as either their second or third language.
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