Bengaluru: Soon after the hijab row, Karnataka is testing the waters yet again by planning to make Bhagawad Gita a part of school syllabus.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh on Friday said the government will discuss the matter with educationists before taking a call on doing so. The move comes on the heels of Gujarat government’s similar plan.
“In Gujarat, they have decided to introduce moral science in three to four phases. In the first phase, they have decided to introduce Bhagawad Gita. This is what has come to my notice today. We will take a call only after discussing the issue with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’,” Nagesh told the media.
He justified the move claiming that the cultural values among children were taking a beating and that many people have demanded that moral science should be introduced.
According to him, contents related to Ramayana and Mahabharata were taught as part of moral science every week in schools.
“We will seek the Chief Minister’s advice regarding introducing moral science in the coming days. If we decide to go ahead then we will discuss with the education experts the content of 'moral science' and the duration of the class,” Nagesh said.
Even Mahatma Gandhi gave credit for his upbringing to the Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, from which his mother would narrate incidents. When he grew up, the play Raja Harishchandra had a big bearing on his life, the minister said.
Tobuttress his contention, he pointed out that Bhagawad Gita is now part of corporate motivational programmes in a few companies.
The teachings in these epics were the reason behind building a well-cultured society in ancient India when there were no modern schools and universities.
“Whatever the experts have to say about Bhagawad Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharat, or the stories of Jesus Christ and the good teachings in Bible and Quran, can be retained. Whatever is time tested, will be taught in 'moral science',” the minister explained.
Reacting to the move, Congress state president DK Shivakumar said there was no need to further glorify things, which are already in textbooks.
“There is nothing wrong in getting to know about the religious practices of various faiths. We will see what content they (the BJP government) want to introduce in the education system. Textbooks already have content on various religions. I don’t think there is any need to further glorify new things,” DKS told reporters.
