Rubbishing opposition claims that the state government is trying to impose Bengali on students, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said a student is free to choose the first language and the state will not interfere in it.
She said the state cabinet on Monday decided on the three-language formula and asserted there was no move to make Bengali compulsory.
"Some people are spreading incorrect information about the language. We decided on the three-language formula at the cabinet meeting. Those who are studying in Bengali-medium schools will have Bengali as their first language. For the other two languages, they can choose between English, Hindi, Nepali, Gurmukhi, Alchiki, among others," Banerjee said while speaking at a programme here.
"Those who are studying in Alchiki schools will have their mother tongue as the first language from primary class. For higher classes, they can opt for two more languages which could be Bengali, Hindi and English," she explained.
"In Darjeeling, they have Nepali-medium schools where they will study in Nepali. In higher classes, they can opt for English, Bengali or Hindi as optional subjects. In Rajbongshi schools, Rajbongshi will be the first language. They can select Bengali, English or Hindi as optional subjects. So, it is incorrect to say that we are imposing Bengali language on people," she added.
"We live in Bengal where majority of the schools are Bengali medium. There are English-medium schools as well. Those who talk in Bengali will take Bengali as their first language and then add two languages such as English, Nepali, Urdu, Alchiki, among others,” she added.
The West Bengal government's new education policy mandates that students will have to learn three languages in classes 5-8, with Bengali as a priority language.
Two languages will be taught at the primary level - of which one will be the mother tongue.
Students of classes 5 to 8 will have to learn three languages out of which the third one could be a regional one or a foreign language.
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