The Gujarat government announced in the Assembly on Thursday that the Bhagavad Gita will be included in the school curriculum for Classes 6 to 12 across the state beginning in the academic year 2022-23.
Education Minister Jitu Vaghani made the announcement during a debate on budgetary allocations for the education department in the legislative Assembly.
दुनिया को भारत की देन;गीता का ज्ञान!
गुजरात में 6 से 12 कक्षा के विद्यार्थी अन्य विषयों के साथ गीता ज्ञान का अभ्यास करेंगे।
इस निर्णय से आनेवाली पीढ़ी पर जो हकारात्मक प्रभाव पड़ने वाला है यह बात सोचकर में गर्व महसूस करता हूँ।
हर घर में गीता;हर घर में पठन#BhagwatGitaInSchools
— Jitu Vaghani (@jitu_vaghani) March 17, 2022
The decision to include the values and principles established in the Bhagavad Gita in education programmes was made in accordance with the Centre’s new National Education Policy (NEP), which advocates for the inclusion of modern and ancient culture, traditions, and knowledge systems in school syllabuses so that students feel proud of India’s rich and diverse culture, according to the minister.
Later, Mr Vaghani told reporters that people of all faiths have accepted the moral values and principles outlined in the ancient Hindu scripture. “As a result, we have decided to include the Bhagavad Gita in the school curriculum for classes 6 to 12.”
The scripture will be introduced to students in Classes 6 to 8 through the textbook ‘Sarvangi Shikshan’ (holistic education). “From Classes 9 to 12, it will be introduced in the form of storytelling in the first language textbook,” he said.
According to him, schools will also organise scripture-based activities such as prayers, shloka recitation, comprehension, drama, quiz, painting, and elocution competitions.
The government will provide study materials such as books and audio-video CDs to schools, according to the minister.