Maharashtra mulls making agriculture full-fledged subject in schools

Mumbai: The newly introduced agriculture subject in the school curriculum could assume more prominence, as the state government is considering making it a 'marks' subject, instead of a mere 'grades' subject.

At a meeting with the State Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar on Sunday, the education department officials discussed the ways the subject can be integrated with the existing curriculum. While there was a proposal to treat it like a regular subject for which students will be assessed and marked, the officials also considered making it part of the work experience module, which includes optional vocational subjects.

The Director of the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has been tasked with preparing a detailed proposal for the inclusion of the subject.

Agriculture is one among several vocational subjects being inculcated in the school curriculum under the National Education Policy 2020. Almost two years after announcing to teach agriculture in schools, the state government has come out with an initial plan to include the subject in curriculum.

According to the plan, prepared by a committee consisting of officials from the state's agriculture and education department as well as agriculture university teachers, agriculture subject will be taught at all classes. The syllabus will be incrementally rolled out across three levels - classes 1 to 5, classes 6 to 8 and classes 9 to 10. It will cover various aspects of agriculture, including its importance, employment opportunities and information about farming. 

The state has already prepared the agriculture curriculum for classes six to eight. It was decided in the meeting that he state's education department will soon ink an agreement with the agriculture department to teach the subject in school.

Published on: Tuesday, May 30, 2023, 08:05 PM IST