With all the hype and controversy that surrounds this bill, parents, students, and educational authorities too stand divided as far the inclusion of Bhagavad Gita in school syllabus is concerned
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, recently, in an official release said, "Every segment of the population should be educated about development of the society. Apart from this, shlokas of the Bhagavad Gita, yoga, moral and social values, and sanitation should also be a part of the education system." Earlier this year, a private member bill was moved by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Ramesh Bidhuri to make Bhagavad Gita mandatory in schools. With all the hype and controversy that surrounds this bill, parents, students, and educational authorities too stand divided as far the inclusion of Bhagavad Gita in school syllabus is concerned.
"In my opinion, making the Bhagvad Gita a compulsory part of the education system feels unfair, if there is no addition of other religious books as well," says 19-year-old, Vinayak Mehta, a Delhi-based first year Bachelors of Arts student." He further adds, " It is always better to keep religion away from education, unless one wants conflicts within the society. "Bhagavad Gita's teachings can easily be given to the students by their parents, in the comfort of their own homes."
"Our education system is already messed up and adding Gita is not going to make it any better," says 19-year-old, Lyka Kinra, a B.Tech student from Delhi.
While students seem to be against the idea of including the Bhagavad Gita in the school syllabus, teachers too seem to have mixed opinions. Annice Dominic, an Indore-based, primary school English teacher, says, "Including any kind of religious book is good because they never teach anything wrong. However, because of the religious diversity that prevails, people will not be able to make sense of why should one include a religious book as a part of the syllabus." Lina Ashar, founder of Billabong High International School, Mumbai empahsises,
"Church and state should not play any part in influencing education. As a part of understanding world religion and philosophy there is merit to teaching the Bhagavad Gita as long as other religious literature are also introduced."
Urvashi Sen, a parent and a high school English and Economics teacher, believes "It is a book that is associated with Hinduism for a majority of people. It may be a trigger to a conflict, in the sense that people from every religion will demand equal importance. It also depends on how the teachers take it forward, how they perceive it."
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