Schools in Maharashtra to Incorporate Agriculture as a Subject

Agriculture-related topics will be taught in all classrooms as per the plan created by a group made up of representatives from the state's agriculture and education departments as well as by agriculture university instructors.

Agriculture will shortly be introduced as a subject and included in the Maharashtra educational system. The state government has invited the Maharashtra Council of Agriculture, Education and Research (MCAER) and the Maharashtra State Council of Education Research and Training Institute (MSCERT) to collaborate on developing the curriculum.

The state administration has released a preliminary curriculum plan for agriculture, nearly two years after deciding to teach the topic in schools. Agriculture-related topics will be taught in all classrooms as per the plan created by a group made up of representatives from the state's agriculture and education departments as well as agriculture university instructors.

Classes 1 to 5 will gradually introduce the syllabus, followed by classes 6 through 8 and classes 9 through 10. It will address a range of topics related to agriculture, such as its significance, job prospects, and knowledge of farming.

The National Education Policy 2020 includes several vocational topics in its curriculum, including agriculture. The state will now convene committees of specialists to create an in-depth course syllabus.

The decision was made on Wednesday during a combined meeting of the school education and agriculture departments in the presence of senior bureaucrats and ministers Varsha Gaikwad and Dadji Bhuse.

The addition of agriculture to the curriculum, according to Bhuse, would not only spark students' interest in the field but will also ensure social and agricultural responsibilities to the countryside farmer community. Gaikwad said that “We have told both departments to create the curricula while taking the pupils' maturity and intelligence into consideration.”