West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu on Tuesday said a student is free to choose his first language and the state government will not interfere in it.

Talking to reporters, Basu said the second and third languages will depend on the population pattern and ethnic profile of people living in a particular region.

"A student is free to choose the first language. In Kolkata, you can choose Bengali as the first language. In the Darjeeling hills, you can choose Nepali as the first language if you wish," he said.

"In certain regions of the state, a student can choose Alchiki or Rajbanshi as the first language. You can also opt for Urdu as the first language," he added.

Asserting that the government does not wish to impose Bengali as the second language, he said, "The second and third languages will entirely hinge on the pattern of population and its ethnicity driven by demographic factors." He said the state education policy recommendations will be implemented by the board and council in schools and by the university in colleges.

The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education conducts the class 10 finals and the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary education holds the class 12 final exams.

"We will put the entire policy recommendations on the official website soon," he 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, an official said on Tuesday.

Two languages will be taught at the primary level - of which one will be the mother tongue, the official elaborating on the policy cleared on Monday by the state cabinet said.

The official said students of classes 5 to 8 would have to take three languages out of which the third one could be regional one or a foreign language.

"The third language could be a local or regional language as well as a foreign language, but priority can be given to Bengali, Sanskrit or Hindi. The main idea is to teach Bengali to youngsters in West Bengal," the official added.

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