States can give nod to teach Bhagwad Gita to school students if needed: Central Government

State governments can give the approval to teach Bhagwad Gita in schools if needed. The announcement about the same has been mentioned by the central government in the Lok Sabha. The reply was given by  Union Minister for Education Annapurna Devi in response to a question asked in the lower house.

Union Minister for Education Annapurna Devi also highlighted that if they want,  state governments can also make necessary provisions to teach Bhojpuri in schools. The Constitution of India keeps Education on the concurrent list. Thus, while mentioning that under the new education policy, regional languages have been made compulsory, she added, “If the states want, they can add Bhagwat Gita in the curriculum.”

During the question hour in the Lok Sabha, the minister mentioned that Bhagwad Gita is already taught in some classes as per the Central Board of Secondary Education or the CBSE curriculum. The question about teaching Bhagwad Gita in schools was asked by the North Mumbai MP of BJP Gopal Shetty, In her reply, Union Minister for Education Annapurna Devi said, “Some contents from the Bhagwat Gita are already there for the students of classes Class 6, 7 and 8. Bhagwat Gita is taught.”

While replying to a written question that was asked in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan said that for the Yoga subject in the UGC NET Exam, Bhagwad Gita has also been introduced. As per PTI inputs, the Education Minister also said, “The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has introduced a course of Indian Traditional Knowledge System in 2018 in the model curriculum of UG Engineering courses, which has taken some aspect of Shrimad Bhagwat Gita.”

With regards to teaching Bhojpuri in schools, Union Minister for Education Annapurna Devi said that if states want, they can teach Bhojpuri to students from classes 1 to 12 in schools. Adding to it, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan mentioned, “As per information received from the State of Bihar, Bhojpuri language has not been discontinued from the school curriculum. As per the Bihar State Curriculum 2008, textbooks for classes 1 to 12 in Bhojpuri have been developed and uploaded on DIKSHA platform. Further, the state government has the policy to promote regional languages for primary education.”

Source : Times Now News