Parents, teachers devising innovative measures to save Marathi schools

The closure of 1300 Marathimedium schools across the state has caused much alarm among parents and teachers The decision by the state due to very less patronage has raised fears of the language dying A city school has hence jumped in to revive Marathi with the help of Marathi Abhyaas Kendra parents and teachers from Marathimedium schools will come together design a plan on innovative teaching methods and submit it to the stateA meeting that was held at D S High School in Sion to discuss the convention scheduled for December 2324D S High School in Sion a Marathimedium school that is spearheading the initiative has itself introduced several innovative teaching and learning methods to stay on par with reputed Englishmedium schools It will hold a convention on December 23 and 24 to brainstorm for ideas on how to revive the mother tongue and such schools considering more parents prefer English medium these daysRepresentatives of 10 schools from across Maharashtra that have implemented new ways to make teaching more effective will be brought to the city to showcase their ways Experts will also be called in to emphasise on the importance of basic education in the mother tongue Talks will be held with parents to understand their changing preferences After taking all of this into account a proposal will be prepared and sent to the governmentKeeping paceRajendra Pradhan trustee president of D S High School said It is unbelievable that in the online process for those who wish to apply for opening a new school in Maharashtra the option of Marathi doesnt exist in the list of mediums its only English Hindi and Urdu While the government has already stopped the scope for new Marathimedium schools to come up it has not even taken any proactive steps to help the existing ones to sustain Its a sad state of affairs for the mother tongue in its own landThe 80yearold school was the first to start Spoken English classes from Std I It trained its teachers first before starting lessons for the students English was introduced in all Marathi schools from 2000 but what matters is how it is taught And we have shown the difference effective teaching can make Like us there are other schools that have introduced innovative methods to keep pace with New Age requirements Instead of blaming the government completely its important that Marathi schools themselves take such steps he addedGiving it a spinThe group working on this initiative plans to adopt 200 Marathimedium schools across the state to implement changes and experimental and progressive methods of teaching Coordinator of the Marathi Abhyaas Kendra Anand Bhandare said In most countries education in mother tongue is a norm Also its been proven time and again with several research papers by reputed organisations UNICEF UNESCO and others that elementary education in a childs mother tongue is the most effective way of learning But in India the picture is completely different especially in Maharashtra forget urban localities here even in rural areas craze for Englishmedium schools is on the rise While we cant completely negate the parents point of view its time Marathimedium education took that longpending spin in the way teaching and learning is done in order to make its students ready for the worldChanging timesWhile several parents have lauded the initiative many have said times are changing and they with it In todays world even a taxi or rickshaw driver feels that hisher child should go to an Englishmedium school A child cant be taught science in Marathi medium and then be left to deal with the shock of answering the same in English during medical or engineering entrance tests Regional medium students do tend to lag behind and no parent wants thatSo what Englishmedium schools can do is offer Marathi language on the same level at which it is taught in Marathimedium schools That way students wont lose touch with their mother tongue while learning other concepts in English to survive in this competitive world said Ajay Kulkarni a civil engineer who studied in a Marathimedium school but preferred English medium for his daughterCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news current affairs from Mumbai local news crime news and breaking headlines hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go