The Gujarat government on Thursday, 17 March, announced that the 700-verse Hindu holy scripture Bhagavad Gita will now be a part of the syllabus in all schools of the state for classes 6-12 from the academic year 2022-23.
Gujarat Education Minister Jitu Vaghani, during a discussion on allocations of budget for the department of education, made the announcement in the legislative Assembly.
“We have decided to introduce the Bhagavad Gita in the school curriculum for Classes 6 to 12. For students of Classes 6 to 8, the scripture will be introduced in the textbook of ‘Sarvangi Shikshan’ (holistic education). From Classes 9 to 12, it will be introduced in the form of storytelling in the textbook of the first language,” he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
The decision comes in line with the new National Education Policy (NEP) introduced by the central government.
'People of All Faiths Accept the Gita': Gujarat Education Minister
Vaghani, speaking to reporters, said that people from every faith have accepted moral values and principles that are outlined in the Gita.
The schools will organise activities that are based on the ancient scripture like prayers, shloka recitation, drama, comprehension, painting, quiz, and elocution competitions, he added, news agency ANI reported.
"Recitation of Bhagavad Gita should be included in the prayer program. Various competitions and creative activities like Shlokgan, Shlokpurti, Vaktrutva, Nibandh, Natya, Chitra, Quiz etc based on Bhagavad Gita should be organized in schools."Gujarat Education Minister Jitu Vaghani , as quoted by ANI
Study material or the main literature in the form of printed material and audio-video CDs will be provided to the schools by the government, he further said.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI.)
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