Bharatiya gyan, spiritualism will help improve education quality: Dinanath Batra’s outfit

The brainstorming session saw participation from nearly 300 subject experts from various districts, including teachers, lecturers and principals who have been entrusted with the task of designing the new curriculum for secondary and higher secondary classes. MoS for Education Nanubhai Vanani also participated in the discussion.
The speeches of Chudasama, Vanani and also that of Atul Kothari, secretary of Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas and national co-convenor of Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti, helped set the tone for the new curriculum.  The Samiti is headed by Dinanath Batra, the RSS ideologue whose books have been included as supplementary reading by the Gujarat government last year.

“With the focus on quality education, there should be a combination of Bharatiya gyan (Indian knowledge) and aadhunik gyan (modern knowledge), not only in Science but in other subjects too. There is already a lot of debate on Indian scientific theories and its relevance in today’s age, which has been time and again been proved. Thus, what all is relevant from our past should be adopted as the school curriculum today,”  Kothari told The Indian Express on the sidelines of the discussion. He said this could be achieved either through curriculum books or supplementary books.

For instance, he said, thoughts and ideals of people like Swami Vivekanand, Kaka Kalelkar, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, Srinivas Ramanujan and Vinoba Bhave should be included in the curriculum. He also mentioned the need for spiritualism in education.

On the other hand, the Education Minister, who addressed the post-lunch session,  laid stress on the song Manushya Tu Bada Mahaan Hai, which was sung by a group during the session to welcome Chudasama.

He said: “This song should not only be sung, but taught in schools and colleges. Teachers should explain meaning of each word to students like it is done in the RSS shakhas along with culture and moral lessons. This song will prepare students to face today’s world where rare incidents like suicides and rapes are becoming a routine.

This was not the case 15-20 years ago. But today individuals are getting weaker. This song along with Vaishnava Jana To will be like a solution to all these problems.”
The minister recommended to make Manushya Tu Bada Mahaan Hai part of curriculum in primary schools starting from Class I till college. He further added education and cultural values are equally important. Thus, these should be included in the curriculum.

The state is in the process of framing a new curriculum on the lines of National Curriculum Framework, 2005. It will be introduced in 2016-17 academic year.