The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) panel recommendations to include Ramayana and Mahabharat in the curriculum is not being received well by the opposition political parties across country.
Earlier the Social Science Committee of the NCERT, tasked with revising the social sciences curriculum for schools, has put forth various proposals, including incorporating the Indian knowledge system, Vedas and Ayurveda into textbooks.
According to the ANI, a high-level panel of the council has suggested the inclusion of topics like Ramayana and Mahabharata in school textbooks as part of India's "classical period" history curriculum.
Chairman of the NCERT Panel backed the decision
In an interview to the Republic, Prof C I Issac, chairman of the NCERT Panel who recommended these changes said that the proposal was given two years back." "Due to the elections, political undercurrents have changed now," added the Professor.
On adding Hindu scriptures to the syllabus he said, "Student should know our history, culture and society. They should understand how it evolved."
"Our Country is secular but they (Students) should know how did this (secularism) flourished here", added Issac.
Opposition accused BJP of saffornising the education
Soon after the news broke, the opposition went all guns blazing accusing the right-wing BJP of saffornising the education system.
The Samajwadi (SP) spokesperson said that since 2014, there has been saffornisation of education. He further added "Including religion to history will be unfair to the history itself."
The CPI (M) also took a severe stance and accused BJP of using such tactics to lure voters. The party said, "Whenever elections arrive, Modi wants to win election by fanning electoral, communal fanatacism, so that he can mobilize voters in his favour."
The Indian national Congress (INC) also condemned this move, The congress spokesperson said, "Students till they attain the age of 18 should not be taught about religion. Once they are mature enough it should be upon them what religion they follow.
NCERT still to approve the recommendations
These recommendations are part of the final position paper on social sciences, a crucial document guiding the development of new NCERT textbooks in the field. The approval from NCERT is pending, as stated in the official announcement.
