Time for Secular Barks – Gita lessons in MP govt schools

Now, Gita lessons in MP govt schools


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Now-Gita-lessons-in-MP-govt-schools/articleshow/9072007.cms


Suchandana Gupta, TNN

BHOPAL: Schools run by Madhya Pradesh government will give Bhagwat Gita lessons beginning end of July.

In February, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said that the Bhagwat Gita should be taught in schools so that students learn the holy text and follow its principles in life. This month, students from classes II to XII in state government schools will get a printed leaflet of Bhagwat Gita lessons. It will be part of the syllabus and constitute a chapter in the Hindi subject.

“Class II students will learn stories through pictures. For senior students, it will be chapters on tolerance, brotherhood, responsibility and duty towards society and the country,” said Govind Sharma, chairman of the Pathya Pustak Lekhan Committee (PPLC) which approves government school syllabus.

“Students don’t need to quote shlokas (verses) from the Bhagwat Gita. They will only be taught lessons to relate the Bhagwat Gita to life. The chapter would be read like a story,” said Sharma.

The academic session started in April and books were sent for printing in November. When the CM announced the inclusion of the Bhagwat Gita in the school curriculum in February, the PPLC recommended it be done right away, said Sharma.

Since the textbooks had already been printed, it was decided to print the lessons for the current year on leaflets. “For this year, we have printed the lessons to be distributed in schools from next week. The same lessons will be included in the Hindi literature textbook from the April 2012 academic session”, Sharma told TOI.

Asked if lessons about other religions would also be included in the school syllabus, Sharma said, “Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammad are part of the students’ rapid reader. Chapters on every religion are taught in the ethics classes. This year, the Bhagwat Gita is being distributed as a separate lesson. Next year onwards, it will be part of the same book.”

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