“Personalities and incidents, which increase the honour of the country should be added to textbooks and not those that make us feel humiliated,” Vidya Bharti’s regional organisation secretary for east UP, Domeshwar Sahu, told mediapersons. (Representational Image)
RSS AFFILIATE Vidya Bharti, which runs a chain of schools and works in the field of education, has started discussions with the state government, seeking changes in the school curriculum while suggesting that Aryans cannot be categorically described as immigrants and the concept of ‘Ekatma Manavvad’ of Deendayal Upadhyaya be included in textbooks.
While announcing that a ceremony will be held to celebrate students and alumni of its schools on Sunday, Vidya Bharti’s regional organisation secretary for east UP, Domeshwar Sahu, told mediapersons that the organisation has been holding talks with officials to seek changes in the syllabus of government schools.
“Personalities and incidents, which increase the honour of the country should be added to textbooks and not those that make us feel humiliated,” he said. Though he declined to give any examples of what he wanted removed from the curriculum, Sahu said “material that needs to be removed is largely a part of the higher education syllabus”, which they are working to get changed.
“The syllabus on English includes the works of mainly foreign writers while there are several Indian writers who write in English. Ninety per cent of textbooks are full of works by foreign writers. We suggest that textbooks should have works by 65 per cent of Indian writers and 35 per cent of foreign writers. The books should also include subjects and concepts of maths and science in such a manner that it evokes morality in a student. Vedic mathematics should be included,” said Sahu.
He added that works of Hindi poets like Shyam Narayan Pandey and Kavi Bhushan have been excluded from the syllabus. “The organisation has noticed 72 points in all books used in UP Education Board-affiliated schools that either need to be changed, amended or incorporated,” said Sahu.
Another Vidya Bharti functionary said the organisation will hold more meetings with government officials in the coming weeks and give suggestions on most of books used in schools. “The government needs to incorporate the contribution of Indian personalities in place of the foreigners who copied their concepts to lay claim to the research,” he added.
He further said the organisation’s suggestions will include incorporating topics on ancient philosopher Nagarjuna, mathematicians Bhaskaracharya and Aryabhata, Ayurveda contributor Charaka and ancient sage and scholar Bhardwaj, among others. “One of the characteristics of Shivaji is described as vishwasghati (betrayer) for attacking Shaista Khan in a book, which should be changed to strategic shrewdness,” said the functionary.
He said the Ekatma Manavvad (integral humanism) doctrine of Jan Sangh leader Deendayal Upadhyaya as well as the contribution of 1857 Sepoy Mutiny leaders like Jhalkaribai, Avantibai Lodhi and Udadevi Pasi should be included in the syllabus. “Aryans are still being described as immigrants while many scholars say they have been in India since the Vedic period. We want the books to state that while most scholars say that Aryans were residents of Bharat, there are some who say that they came from outside,” he said.
Vidya Bharti’s east UP unit, which covers 49 districts and runs 1,225 schools with 4.25 lakh students, will felicitate its students for their performance in sports and examinations. Governor Ram Naik will be the chief guest at the event on Sunday.
