Gujarat Assembly passes bill which makes teaching Gujarati language in schools mandatory

The Gujarat Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill which makes teaching the Gujarati language compulsory in all primary schools in the state, including those affiliated with CBSE, ICSE and IB boards.

If a school is found violating the provisions of the "Gujarat Compulsory Teaching and Learning of Gujarati Language Bill, 2023" for more than a year, the government would "direct the Board or institution" to disaffiliate the school.

The bill, tabled by state Education Minister Kuberbhai Dindor, was passed unanimously by the 182-member House as both the opposition parties - the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party - supported its provisions.

As per the bill document, the schools which are currently not teaching Gujarati will have to introduce Gujarati as an additional language for classes 1 to 8 in phases from the upcoming academic year 2023-24.

"Every school shall follow textbooks prescribed by the Gujarat government for teaching Gujarati as an additional language. The state government will appoint a deputy director-level officer of the Education Department as the competent authority to implement the provisions of this bill," said Dindor.

If a school is found violating the provisions for the first time, it will be liable to pay a penalty of Rs 50,000, as per the bill document. The penalty will be Rs 1 lakh and Rs 2 lakh for subsequent violations.

"If a school continues to make contraventions to this act for over one year, the state government may direct the Board or institution to disaffiliate the school, to which such a school is affiliated," as per the provisions in the bill. The penalty will not be imposed without allowing the school concerned to put forward its explanation.