Will one of Mumbai's oldest Marathi-medium schools shut down?

Even as Marathi was recently conferred the prestigious status of an Abhijaat Bhasha classical language the possible closure of Dadarrsquos Nabar Guruji Vidyalaya one of Mumbairsquos oldest Marathimedium schools has reignited concerns about the fading presence of institutions imparting education in the regional tongue in the cityRun by the Indian Education Society IES the Nabar Guruji Vidyalaya an institution with a proud legacy dating back to the 1940s is now staring at an uncertain future News of its potential shutdown raises a difficult but urgent question Is the decline of Marathimedium schools in Maharashtra accelerating towards a point of no returnAfter 35 Class 10 students from Nabar Guruji Vidyalayarsquos graduated this year only 17 students remain enrolled in the school across Class 9 and Class 10 for the upcoming academic year a stark reflection of the enrolment crisisThough the trustees have clarified that no official decision has been taken on closure they opened up about the mounting difficulties in sustaining operations citing dwindling numbers and insufficient support Satish Rama Nayak one of the trustees of the Nabar Guruji Vidyalaya said ldquoWe have not taken any decision to close the school However enrolment has dropped drastically This year 35 students appeared for the SSC exams but in the current academic session only 17 students remain in Class 9 and Class 10 This sharp decline is impacting the teacherstudent ratiordquoHe explained that while the governmentrsquos stipulated pupilteacher ratio PTR is 401 the threshold was brought down to 251 for Marathimedium schools ldquoIn our case the PTR has now fallen well below the mandated level Therefore we wrote to the education department seeking their guidancemdashnot to request the schoolrsquos closurerdquo he saidPointing out a broader social shift Nayak said ldquoMany parents who themselves studied in Marathimedium schools and now hold respectable positions are beginning to question the quality of education in these very institutions Even daily wage earners are willing to take loans to secure admission for their children in Englishmedium or CBSEaffiliated schools At our school we offer free education and teacher salaries are paid through government grants so we are financially capable of running the institution But what can we do if the students simply donrsquot comerdquoHe added that they are still awaiting a response from the education department and have tried to reassure anxious parents ldquoWersquove assured parents that should any changes be required we will transfer their children to another of our wellestablished schools Raja Shivaji Vidyalaya located within the same complex all they have to do is fill up a form Despite this at least 10 of the 17 remaining students have already applied for leaving certificates The IES operates 60 schools across Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region each offering both Marathi and Englishmedium sections Itrsquos not just Nabar Guruji Vidyalaya that is strugglingdwindling enrolments and operational challenges are faced by majority of aided Marathimedium schoolsAided schools like ours are also now facing stiff competition from BMCrun Mumbai public schools which are expanding rapidly offering Englishmedium instruction and even ICSE CBSE and IB curriculardquoBroader crisis Data from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporationrsquos BMC education department submitted to the Unified District Information System for Education UDISE for the year 202324 highlights a troubling trendmdasha steady decline in the number of Marathimedium civic schools over the past decadeIn 201011 Mumbai had 413 such schools By 201415 this number had dropped to 368 The downward trend continued with only 280 such schools remaining in the academic year 20212022 As of 202324 the figure dipped to just 262 This sharp decline has sparked serious concern among educators and activists Falling student enrolment lack of infrastructural support and shifting parental preferences towards Englishmedium education have put immense pressure on trusts and managements that run these schoolsHarsh realitySushil Shejule a member of the Marathi Abhyas Kendra and president of the organisation Aamhi Shikshak We Teachers said ldquoWhile Marathi has been granted classical language status the closure of Marathi schools which are the true lifeline of the language is a serious warning bell Someone must take responsibility for this situation It would be unfair to place the entire blame on parentsThe government must act with intent to save Marathimedium schools It should appoint a special committee of experts for Mumbai or even for the entire state to investigate the reasons behind the declining student enrolment in these schools and implement solutions on a war footing The BMCrsquos decision to start Englishmedium schools affiliated with other boards despite no real demand for them was a selfdestructive move If this continues a time will come when Marathi schools in Mumbai will completely disappear This reality needs to be acknowledged with the seriousness it deservesrdquoHe added ldquoIn Maharashtra public funds should be directed towards strengthening Marathi schools rather than being spent on Englishmedium institutions This leads us to a fundamental question Do the government and the administration truly want Marathi schools to survive If a school is offering quality and valuebased education student numbers do not declinerdquoSystemic neglectGirish Samant a trustee of the AB Goregaonkar School run by the Goregaonbased Shikshan Mandal Trust stated ldquoThe education department has completely stopped granting approvals for new Marathimedium schools Nonsalary grants which are critical for school operations were discontinued for a long time and only resumed after sustained pressure yet they remain irregular and insufficient There has been no sanction for nonteaching staff appointments either Secondary sections donrsquot even have laboratory assistants and the workload on teachers is overwhelmingrdquoSamant added that several Marathimedium schools have been waiting for official permissions and support since as far back as 201213 with no resolution in sight ldquoIt appears that the authorities are indifferent to the shutdown of Marathimedium schools In fact it feels like the government is deliberately creating a situation where aided Marathi schools become unsustainable Over the past decade policies have only made things harder for school managements and staffrdquo he saidPointing out the contradiction between policy and practice in Maharashtra Samant said ldquoMarathi schools are being ignored even as the NEP National Education Policy promotes mothertongue learning Therersquos no onground campaign by the government to promote Marathi All signs point to an unwritten mandate to phase out aided Marathimedium schoolsrdquoMatter of survivalSlamming the authoritiesrsquo approach towards Marathimedium education Prasad Gokhale a parent and convenor of the awareness group and social media community Marathi Shala Aapan Tikavlya Pahijet We Must Save Marathi Schools said ldquoIf the government and a section of Marathi society believes that the Marathi language is not capable of being used as a medium to teach school subjects then the recently conferred Abhijaat Darja classical language status should be immediately withdrawn and English be deemed a classical language instead Before making grand declarations government officials politicians ministers teachers and members of Marathi school committees must answer a basic question Have they enrolled their own children in Marathimedium schools past or present And if not what are the reasons behind those decisionsIf education in a childrsquos mother tongue continues to be sidelined then what is the point of introducing a new NEP It all seems like a wellorchestrated plan to promote the commercial interests of nonstate and international boards and private Englishmedium schools In the process the middle and lowermiddleclass families are being financially exploited The real victims of this system are the children themselves Forcing them to study complex subjects in English from a young age when it is not their native language puts an unnatural cognitive burden on them What happened to protecting our childrenrsquos best interestsGokhale added ldquoThe importance of school education in onersquos mother tongue is a universally accepted principle While we keep talking about it in various forums why are we ignoring it when it comes to implementation The government must take responsibility to promote and protect Marathi and other regionallanguage schools proactively and without excuses This is not just about language itrsquos about preserving cultural identity and ensuring meaningful learning for our children Marathi schools shutting down due to low enrolment in Maharashtra is a sorry state of affairsrdquoParents torn For many parents the choice between Marathi and English is less about culture and more about social mobility ldquoI studied in a Marathi school and so did my siblings and my wife who is a doctor and we all are doing fine in life but todayrsquos reality is differentrdquo said Satish Patil a parent of a Std III student ldquoWe feel pressure from society relatives and even schools that consider English the only way forward But deep down we know itrsquos not fair to the child to learn complex subjects in a nonnative languagerdquo explained PatilatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params