Mumbai, March 24 (IANS) Maharashtra school education minister Dadaji Bhuse told the state assembly that even though the government has decided to implement CBSE pattern for the first standard in the government schools, the state SSC Board will not be closed.
Bhuse made a statement amid strong criticism from the opposition parties and other stakeholders.
“State SSC Board will not be closed. Maharashtra has a bright education tradition. Therefore, there is no plan to close the state board that represents the existence of our state. On the contrary, the education department has said that this is a step to make the state board more capable. It is being planned to implement several textbooks based on the new state curriculum.
He said that the Education Department has prepared Maharashtra’s own CBSE curriculum for examination system based on the National Curriculum Framework (School Education) and National Curriculum Framework prepared under the National Education Policy 2020.Necessary changes have been made in it for the positive benefit of students in our state,” said the minister.
As per the new curriculum, the work of creating textbooks for the first standard through Balbharti is underway. For the state, the curriculum/syllabus for Class 1 to 10 is being created through State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERTM). He said the students will be able to gain State, national and world level knowledge.
“CBSE curriculum is useful for competitive exams and is beneficial for national level competitive exams like JEE, NEET, UPSC,” he commented. “The emphasis is given on soft skills and counselling focuses on the personal development of students, teaching them communication skills, leadership qualities, creativity, and stress management,” said the minister.
Earlier, NCP SP MP Supriya Sule on last Friday took strong objection to the school education department Dadaji Bhuse’s announcement to implement CBSE pattern from the academic year 2025-25 for first standard in government schools saying that it will be fatal to the classical language Marathi, culture and tradition.
In a letter to the minister, Sule has urged the state government to reconsider the decision. “Maharashtra has a very bright educational tradition. But it is a very regrettable matter that the government has decided to ignore it and follow other boards. It seems that the state government has planned to completely close the state’s SSC board through this. I doubt whether this decision will erase the identity of our Maharashtra which has a rich tradition of education. This decision will be fatal to the classical language Marathi, culture and tradition. I humbly request the state government to please reconsider this decision,” said Sule.
–IANS
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