Balbharati: what it is, and what it means for your child's syllabus

We are not affiliated with Balbharati, MSCERT or MSBSHSE. This page explains how the system works for parents choosing or navigating it.

Balbharati is the name most Maharashtra parents actually use, though it's technically the textbook publisher, not the entire system—rather like referring to a board by its printer's name. Parents searching for it usually want to understand what their child is actually learning, how the medium-of-instruction choice works, what the Marathi requirement really means for a CBSE or ICSE school, and how the syllabus compares if the family is relocating to or from Maharashtra.

Balbharati is a Government of Maharashtra body, established on 27 January 1967 to write and print the state's school textbooks and keep them affordable. It operates alongside two other bodies: MSCERT, which sets curriculum and syllabus, and MSBSHSE, which conducts examinations at Standard 10 (SSC) and Standard 12 (HSC) only.

We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected to Balbharati, MSCERT or MSBSHSE, and this page is not an official syllabus document. It exists because parents search the textbook publisher's name directly, and it is written to explain the system honestly. For the full research we have done on Maharashtra's primary schooling, see our Maharashtra State Board page. If your situation is more specific than a general page can address, contact us and we will give an honest view, free.

Balbharati - the Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production and Curriculum Research - is the printer and textbook publisher. It writes and prints textbooks for Standards 1 to 12 in every medium your state supports, with a digital library on a government website.

Curriculum and syllabus are set separately by MSCERT - Maharashtra State Council of Educational Research and Training. MSCERT started as a State Institute of Education in 1964 and became an educational authority in 2016. Examinations are handled by a different body again, MSBSHSE, established in 1965-66. It conducts exams only at Standard 10 and Standard 12 through nine divisional boards. Nothing in this structure examines a Standard 3, 4 or 5 child - if your primary child takes a 'state board exam', the school itself has set it, not MSBSHSE.

Standards 1 to 5 include a first language, a second language (commonly English), Mathematics and EVS - Parisar Abhyas - taught as one combined subject. From Standard 6, EVS splits into three separate subjects: General Science, History & Civics, and Geography - a finer split than CBSE's single Social Science. This means your Standard 6 Maharashtra child is managing three new subject books at once rather than one.

The state is beginning a genuine transition: State Board schools are moving toward NCERT-aligned curriculum, starting with Standard 1 in 2025-26 and Standard 2 in 2026-27, with further standards following year by year. If your family has children in different standards right now, you may see two different curricula side by side - worth knowing before assuming your older and younger children's books should match.

Regardless of which curriculum version your child is on, maths and science follow the same underlying topic sequence. A free Class 5 maths or Class 6 science test is a fair way to see where your child stands no matter which textbook edition their school uses.

Our teaching runs by class rather than by board, using the actual textbook your child was issued: see Class 3, Class 5 or the full Class 1 to 10 range.

Maharashtra recognises seven media of instruction: Marathi, English, Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Sindhi, and Kannada. Most families face a real choice between three options. What actually differs is which language carries Mathematics and Science—not how much Marathi or English your child studies as a subject. Both appear in all three media; the difference is which does the heavy lifting.

• Marathi medium. All instruction, including Mathematics and Science, is in Marathi. English is still taught as a subject, but your child builds scientific and mathematical vocabulary in Marathi first.
• Semi-English medium. A genuine, officially recognised middle option, enabled by a 2009 government resolution. In Marathi-medium schools, Mathematics and Science are taught in English, while the rest of the timetable stays in Marathi. It suits families wanting an English foothold in those two subjects without a full medium shift. It changes the least about your child's day while still building English exposure where it matters most.
• English medium. All instruction is in English, with Marathi and other languages taught as subjects rather than as the medium of instruction.

None of these is right or wrong in absolute terms. It depends on what language is spoken at home and how much English exposure your child already has before starting school. We teach both languages properly in whichever medium a family chooses. A free Class 5 maths test shows how your child is managing with the vocabulary their medium uses.

The Maharashtra Compulsory Teaching and Learning of Marathi Language in Schools Act, 2020 requires Marathi to be taught as a compulsory, non-graded subject from Standard 1 to Standard 10 in every school in the state, whatever its board or medium - reaching into Mumbai and Pune's CBSE and ICSE schools as much as any Marathi-medium municipal school, phased in fully by 2025-26.

Beyond Marathi, the third-language position - specifically whether Hindi is compulsory - has genuinely been in flux through 2025: a April 2025 order making Hindi compulsory from Standard 1 was walked back, a June 2025 revision made a third language optional among Indian languages subject to a minimum class size, and both orders were then reported withdrawn entirely, with a state committee set up to recommend how the three-language formula should apply. No replacement policy had been finalised as of the most recent information we have, so the honest advice is to ask your own child's school what applies this academic year rather than relying on a headline from last year.

We teach Marathi as the compulsory subject it now is, regardless of whether a school is state board, CBSE or ICSE: practise with the Class 5, Class 8 or Class 10 Marathi online test for your child's class.

	Balbharati (Maharashtra)	CBSE
EVS split, Standard 6	Divides into three: General Science, History & Civics, Geography	Divides into two: Science and Social Science
Compulsory Marathi	Yes, Class 1 to 10, every school and board	Not applicable outside Maharashtra
Standing exam before Class 10	None; MSBSHSE conducts examinations only at Standard 10 and 12	School-set assessments; no external board examination

The most significant adjustment for families relocating into Maharashtra, regardless of their child's previous board, is typically Marathi itself—assuming the child has no prior experience with it. Marathi is mandatory regardless of which board their school follows. For families moving away from Maharashtra, a child accustomed to three separate subjects from Standard 6 may encounter Social Science recombined into a single unit elsewhere.

See our broader comparisons on CBSE and state boards, plus our dedicated online tuition for Maharashtra page.

Mid-year school transfers happen regularly and can be planned effectively. Understanding which subjects transfer smoothly and which don't is essential - avoid assuming your entire timetable resets.

• Mathematics transfers reasonably well. Topic sequencing in Maths is broadly similar across Indian boards from Class 1 to 10, so a child moving mid-year is usually only a few weeks out of step rather than genuinely behind. A quick Class 5 maths test or equivalent for your child's class shows exactly where the gap lies.
• EVS and Social Science don't transfer cleanly around Standard 6. Balbharati splits EVS into three separate subjects - General Science, History & Civics and Geography - from Standard 6, whilst many other boards keep a single combined Social Science. A child moving in either direction during this window can arrive either ahead of a combined-subject class or behind one that split earlier.
• Marathi is the genuine adjustment, not a formality. A child moving into Maharashtra with no prior Marathi starts this compulsory subject from zero, whatever standard they've joined - there's no official exemption for mid-year arrivals. Building it gradually alongside your timetable is the realistic approach, rather than expecting your child to match classmates who have studied it since Standard 1.
• Medium of instruction can complicate a transfer further. When a child moves from a Marathi-medium school into an English-medium one, or vice versa, they're simultaneously changing the language in which Maths and Science are taught - treat this as a separate adjustment from the curriculum change itself.

We teach from the actual class and textbook your child arrives with, so a mid-year move is a starting point rather than a problem to solve first. See online tuition for Maharashtra and our published fees.

We plan from the actual Balbharati textbook your child has been given, in the language medium your school uses - whether that's the newer NCERT-aligned books for Standard 1 or 2, or the established Balbharati titles higher up the school. Marathi is taught as the compulsory subject it is, never skipped just because your school is CBSE or ICSE. We keep EVS intact through Standard 5, then deliberately bridge it into General Science, History & Civics and Geography from Standard 6 onward, alongside the Hindi that most Maharashtra schools also require.

We offer small live classes or one-to-one online tuition for specific gaps, both working from the same textbook-first method. Our fees are published on the fees page, and we offer a free assessment before you commit. If a school change has left a particular subject unclear, get in touch and we will talk through what is needed.