TO BE AT HOME WITH GUJARATI

For a state formed on linguistic lines, it may come as a surprise that Gujarat took over six decades to make the teaching of its native language mandatory in elementary classes across all schools, irrespective of the medium of instruction or affiliation.

- Jumana Shah

In doing so, it has joined states like Maharashtra (which along with Gujarat was carved out from the erstwhile Bombay state in 1960), Punjab and Telangana that have passed similar legislations in recent years.

Titled the Gujarat Compulsory Teaching and Learning of Gujarati Language Bill, 2023, the proposed legislation got the state assembly’s unanimous nod on February 28. It has basically given teeth to a 2018 government resolution (GR) that pushed for the teaching of Gujarati language even in non-Gujarati medium schools. Now, the schools that fail to comply will face a penalty of Rs 50,000, Rs 1 lakh and Rs 2 lakh for the first three violations, respectively, and can also lose their registration upon the third breach.