In Gujarat, Circular Asks Schools To Attend Session On Indian Values

Ahmedabad: Half a dozen school administrators took lessons in inculcating "Indian values" in school education on Tuesday at a session organised by a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh affiliate in Ahmedabad, stirring a controversy.

Despite the low attendance, the three-hour session organised by the Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal or BSM became controversial because the District Education Office or DEO had issued a circular asking school representatives to attend the three hour long training programme.

The government-backed programme has some academics saying they are worried that a hidden agenda is being unleashed in schools. "This is blatant misuse of government machinery and those in power are using their influence like the DEO asking schools to attend a programme organised by an NGO wing of the RSS,'' Educationist Hemant Shah said.

While the education department refused to comment on the circular, the organisers defended the decision of the DEO to back the programme. "The DEO helped us. It was his duty to spread the word about the important workshop. He hasn't made it mandatory or put pressure on schools. If the DEO office can promoted English speaking classes why not this,'' said Mukul Kanitkar, Joint Organisation Secretary of BSM.

The opposition Congress has lashed out at the government and the RSS. "We have all along maintained that there is a hidden Nagpur agenda being played out to influence education system particularly schools,'' said Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi.

BSM is a Nagpur-based organisation working in 22 states and more than one-third of India's districts with the declared aim of changing curriculum from schools to higher education "based on Indian knowledge tradition."  

"It is unfortunate, that although the British left Bharat, they left behind a legacy of a colonial mindset that is still implementing this destructive educational system," the BSM's official website says.