More Class 10 students choosing Gujarati as first language clearing GSEB exams

Ahmedabad: Performance in Gujarati language exams at the Class 10 level has steadily improved in recent years. In 2025, of the 6.26 lakh students who opted for Gujarati as their first language in the Gujarat State Education Board (GSEB) Class 10 exam, 5.72 lakh cleared the paper — marking the second consecutive year that the subject recorded a pass percentage above 90%. This is a sharp rise from 2019, when the pass percentage stood at only 64.5%, and 2.5 lakh students had failed the subject.As International Mother Language Day is celebrated every year on Feb 21, experts say the main areas of difficulty for students are grammar, writing method, and comprehension. Some attributed it to a weaker base and not much reading done at a younger age.
Hemant Patel from Mansa in Gandhinagar, who teaches Gujarati, says sentence formation, reading and comprehension, and grammar remain problematic for many students. "Speaking the language and approaching it academically are different. This is apparent in how the language is written," he said. "We ask students to practise more and understand the basics. "We often start with reading for students in Classes 6 to 9. Students often break sentences into smaller parts for understanding. The advent of technology brought in several new words, too. The focus from an academic point of view remains on improving the foundation and helping students express their thoughts in Gujarati," says Vinesh Valand from Dholera, who teaches the language.