Official Language Listed With French
Marathi is Maharashtras official language, but Nagpur University
(NU) does not seem to agree Students who enrolled for the third year in the law
faculty at NU, where a new syllabus has been introduced, were surprised to see Marathi
listed as a foreign language.
In our third year we have to choose a foreign language The university has offered
only two options: French and Marathi, said a student.
A teacher said, It is an irony that Marathi is called a foreign language in Maharashtra
The university has a strange explanation Sanjay Bahekar, NU spokesperson, said,
Marathi will have to be called a foreign language as many foreign students come
to Nagpur to study law For them, Marathi will obviously be a foreign language
Contradicting him, the student said, We, too, can enrol for Marathi though it certainly
is not foreign to us I have opted for French as I studied it in high school Its
a scoring subject.
Bahekar suggested that TOI speak to the academics department, but there was no response
despite several calls Another university official said this was certainly not an
oversight, but goes to show that not enough thought was given while preparing the
academic structure The official said: Since the new syllabus has been introduced
from this year, there are bound to be some hiccups However, the NU could have simply
used the term second language and then given various options to students The fact
that they used the term foreign language is shocking.
Courtesy: Times of India
