Gujarati Language Compulsory In All Primary Schools: The Gujarat Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill that will make it mandatory to teach Gujarati language in all primary schools in the state, including those affiliated to CBSE, ICSE and IB boards. If a school is found violating the provisions of the "Gujarat Compulsory Education and Teaching of Gujarati Language Bill, 2023" for more than a year, the government will direct the "board or institution" to derecognise the school.

The bill, introduced by state Education Minister Kuberbhai Dindor, was passed unanimously by the 182-member House. Because both the opposition parties - the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party - supported its provisions. As per the bill document, schools which are not currently teaching Gujarati will have to introduce Gujarati as an additional language for classes 01 to 08 in phases from the coming academic year 2023-24.

Dindor said, "Every school shall follow the textbooks prescribed by the Government of Gujarat for teaching Gujarati as an additional language. The State Government shall appoint a Deputy Director level officer of the Education Department as the competent authority to implement the provisions of this Bill." shall appoint as such." If a school is found violating the provisions for the first time, it will be liable to pay a fine of Rs 50,000, according to the bill document. The fine for subsequent violations will be Rs one lakh and Rs two lakh.

According to the provisions of the Bill, "If any school continues to violate this Act for more than one year, the State Government may direct the Board or the institution to which such school is affiliated to disaffiliate." No penalty shall be imposed without allowing the school concerned to present its explanation. However, the Congress supported the bill.

Congress MLA Amit Chavda said that before this bill, the state government had issued a notification in 2018 for the same purpose. Thus, I urge upon the state government to ensure that this bill does not fulfill that notification. We hope that you will implement the Act strictly. Apart from this, the state government should think about increasing the amount of fine. He also urged the state government to introduce Gujarati as a compulsory subject at the secondary and senior secondary levels.