State govt to offer Marathi language course in UK in association with Maharashtra Mandal London

The state school education department has entered into a MoU with Maharashtra Mandal London. Government has formed a ten-member committee including representation from the Maharashtra Mandal London which will create a plan of action for its implementation.

Existing Marathi language textbooks for classes 1 to 5 will be used as the basis for creation of curriculum for this short-term course to run in the UK with nearly 20 percent changes as per local requirements and references.

President of Maharashtra Mandal London, Vrushal Khandke, said, “We have been informally holding Marathi language learning for many years. This certification will now make it formalised.”

He explained, “With certification from Maharashtra State Board, this course will also be accepted for Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), which is an independent charity and the UK’s shared admissions service for higher education. UCAS points translate qualifications and grades into numerical values which can help students in higher education admissions. Many youngsters take up short-term courses learning foreign languages such as Spanish, German among others to gain these points. Now Marathi language courses will also be considered in this category, encouraging more youngsters to take up the course.”

Khandke said that the population of Maharashtrians is constantly increasing in the UK with many migrating to work in the IT and other sectors. “Additionally, there are many second and third generation young individuals of Marathi families settled here. The idea is to keep the Marathi language alive in the young Maharashtrian community in the UK,” said Khandke.

Khandke added that many individuals have already started signing up to volunteer as trainers for this course which Maharashtra Mandal London will run at various locations as well as online. And exams will be held at different intervals. “All these volunteers are essentially working professionals from the UK who have learnt Marathi and would like to extend their support to help teach the language. Additionally, SCERT will also hold training for the trainers,” said Khandke.