Gita back in Madhya Pradesh schools under moral science garb
Rageshri Ganguly,TNN | Sep 5, 2014, 10.24 PM IST
Moral education will become mandatory in government schools from next academic session. The new curriculum, which will primarily include discourses from Gita and other religious texts, comes just 10 months after chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan hastily withdrew a government order on compulsory Gita education in schools and madrassas.
Making the announcement at a teachers' day function on Friday, the chief minister was quick to point out that not just Gita, but "teachings from other religious books would also be included". He, however, did not mention names of any religious texts, barring Gita and Ramayan.
Last year, in a notification issued on August 1, the government had added a chapter each based on stories from Gita in textbooks of general Hindi prescribed for Class III to Class VIII for special English and in Class I and Class II for special Urdu. It was withdrawn before Assembly elections after the issue snowballed into a controversy. Congress also criticized the BJP government for diverting people's attention from "misgovernance". This prompted the MP government to withdraw the notification on August 6.
On Friday, Chouhan said, "Our students are lagging behind in moral values. And without this, no person can be complete."
Chouhan acknowledged the controversy last year, but termed it an incorrect interpretation. "Last year we decided to introduce Gita which raised eyebrows. We believe in the concept of 'sarva dharma sambhava' (equality of all religions). Hence the school education department will work on a new subject of moral education that would be taught in school," he said.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gita-back-in-Madhya-Pradesh-schools-under-moral-science-garb/articleshow/41811705.cms
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