The Maharashtra government has released a revised timetable for classes 1st and 2nd, scrapping a proposal to make Hindi mandatory. According to the new timetable, only Marathi and English languages are compulsory, and an ‘Additional Enrichment Period' is introduced, aimed at providing academic support through remedial teaching, skill development, or preparation for competitive exams.
This comes after the backlash over the June 18 advisory issued by the State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT) to roll back several changes. In the latest schedule, Art and Physical Education, which had annual hours of 81 and 40, respectively, have been restored to 122 and 61 hours. Class session duration has also been aligned with National Curriculum Framework (NCF) norms, increased to 45 to 60 minutes from the previously proposed 35-45 minutes.
The state has provided a weekly timetable so that schools can be flexible in organising the daily order of subjects and start and end times. However, they are not permitted to reduce the total weekly or annual instructional hours.
The Additional Enrichment Period is not part of the standard timetable but serves as supplementary learning time. Another provision includes 10 designated bagless days annually for experiential learning and reducing academic pressure.