The Maharashtra government, led by CM Eknath Shinde, issued an order on Saturday, September 14, making the Marathi language compulsory in all private and government schools, across all mediums in the state, starting from the academic year 2025-26. The examination for the Marathi language subject will be conducted in all medium schools, and the evaluation will be done using a marks-based system rather than grading.
This decision was made after it was observed that the Marathi language was not being taught seriously in non-Marathi medium schools, where it was being evaluated on a grade-based system. In response, the Maharashtra government has issued instructions for the compulsory implementation of the Marathi language.
On April 1, 2020, the Education Department issued a government decision to make Marathi compulsory in all medium schools. Since the academic year 2020-21, steps have been taken to gradually implement this in schools across the state.
However, due to the COVID-19 lockdown in the 2020-21 academic year, no regular examinations were held in schools of boards other than the State Board. As a special concession, the Marathi language subject was assessed on a grade basis for certain batches: the 2022-23 eighth-grade batch, the 2023-24 ninth-grade batch, and the 2024-25 tenth-grade batch.
This concession, however, applies only to these specific batches. From the academic year 2025-26 onwards, the Education Department has decided that the Marathi language subject will be evaluated using a marks-based system in all medium schools. Hence, future Marathi language exams will not be grade-based, and students will receive marks instead of grades.