Ahmedabad: Months after the Gujarat Assembly passed a resolution to include the Bhagavad Gita in the curriculum of government schools, over 600 schools in Ahmedabad are set to begin incorporating lessons from this Hindu scripture, which is part of the epic Mahabharata. Starting this week, officials announced that video lessons based on shlokas from the Gita will be a mandatory part of the morning assembly at these schools.
On Tuesday, Gujarat Education Minister Praful Pansheriya launched a project titled ‘Vidyarthi Jeevan Pathdarshak Banshe Shreemad Bhagwad Gita’ (Srimad Bhagavad Gita will become a guide to student life) at an event in Ahmedabad. This project follows Pansheriya’s presentation of a resolution in the Assembly on February 7 during the Budget Session, aiming to make the Bhagavad Gita part of the curriculum for government school students in classes VI to XII starting in June. The resolution passed without opposition, and the new academic session began on June 13.
The Ahmedabad District Education Office (Rural) has created audiovisual lessons to implement the Gujarat Education Department’s decision. These lessons will be taught in 650 secondary and higher secondary schools in the city.
“These videos will be a mandatory part of the morning assembly in more than 600 schools in Ahmedabad. One shloka or video will be featured each week. A circular regarding this will be issued to all schools within a day or two after today’s launch. This initiative is part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the state government’s efforts,” said DEO Ahmedabad Rural Krupa Jha.
“For statewide implementation, the Education Department has included two chapters from the Bhagavad Gita as stories in the Gujarati first language curriculum for Classes VI to XII in state board schools, and a separate literature has been prepared for non-state board schools,” said V R Gosai, Director of the Gujarat State School Textbook Board (GSSTB).
જિલ્લા શિક્ષણાધિકારીશ્રીની કચેરી, અમદાવાદ-ગ્રામ્ય અને અમદાવાદ જિલ્લા શૈક્ષણિક સંઘ સંકલન સમિતિ દ્વારા અમદાવાદના સોલા સ્થિત જે. જી. ઈન્ટરનેશનલ સ્કૂલમાં વિદ્યાર્થી-જીવન પથદર્શક બનશે શ્રીમદ્ ભગવદ ગીતા તેમજ વહીવટી ભોમિયો (ડીજીટલ માર્ગદર્શિકા)નું ઈ-લોન્ચિંગ કર્યું.
— Praful Pansheriya (@prafulpbjp) June 18, 2024
આદરણીય યશસ્વી… pic.twitter.com/tlnJsjo0wu
The teachings will address modern lifestyle challenges such as character-building, distraction management, stress management, and food management, drawn from 51 shlokas (verses) of the Bhagavad Gita. These lessons will be delivered through video presentations and weekly behavioral assignments for students.
Regarding the project’s scope, Krupa Jha stated, “It will apply to all schools — government, grant-in-aid, and private. Although we cannot enforce it, minority-run schools will also be advised to implement the project.”
Training for over 3,000 teachers is set to commence this week.
DAV International School principal Nivedita Ganguli, who was approached to create these videos, said, “We began conducting Bhagavad Gita lessons after the pandemic. At a session on Gita Jayanti last year, where DEO officials were present, I was asked to work on this project. Having studied and practiced the Bhagavad Gita for over 10 years, I readily agreed to contribute.”
In one video, Ganguli delivers the first shloka of the first chapter of the Bhagavad Gita in Sanskrit and Hindi, explaining each word and relating it to modern-day issues. She gives practical advice, such as learning from parents’ scoldings and not repeating mistakes.
Each lesson concludes with an assignment for students. For example, students might be asked to identify a behavior they want to improve, such as excessive video gaming, and monitor and rate their progress over a week.
While recording the 51 videos, Ganguli focused on shlokas relevant to modern challenges like respect, caste discrimination, character-building, stress and distraction management, honesty, courage, food management, meditation, equality, and bullying.
The Ahmedabad DEO will also conduct competitions among students to assess their understanding of the lessons, officials said.