Tuesday, 9 August 2016

DRAFT NEW EDUCATION POLICY 2016 – Part 2 YOGA TO BE MADE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE CURRICULUM AND DAILY ROUTINE.


The drafters of the new policy have added the saying of Mahatma Gandhi knowingly or unknowingly in the draft - “The real difficulty is that people have no idea of what education truly is.”   

As per the draft the following policy initiatives will be taken::
“Physical education, yoga, games and sports, NCC, NSS, art education, Bal Sansad, covering local art, craft, literature and skills, and other co- Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt of India Some Inputs for Draft NEP 2016 Page 32 of 43 scholastic activities will be made an integral part of the curriculum and daily routine in schools for the holistic development of children. Facilities for the above will be a pre-requisite to the recognition of schools”

You will notice that ‘yoga’ is sneakily added ‘between the words’, amongst other things such as Physical education, sport, games, NCC, etc which are already part of the curriculum. 

According to Mohler, “Yoga begins and ends with an understanding of the body that is, to say the very least, at odds with the Christian understanding,” he writes. “Christians are not called to empty the mind or to see the human body as a means of connecting to and coming to know the divine. Believers are called to meditate upon the Word of God — an external Word that comes to us by divine revelation — not to meditate by means of incomprehensible syllables.”

 Implications:
  1. Students may be compelled to practice Yoga daily – This is against the religious freedom.
  2. Schools may not be given recognition if they do not start ‘Yoga’ classes – This is also against the freedom of following principles of their religion.
  3. Minority’s rights to start educational institutions may be obstructed, which the direct intention is trying to infuse indirectly.
Interestingly, a part of the mission statement of the new education policy is

·         Ensure that school and higher education as well as adult education programmes inculcate an awareness among children, youth and adults of India’s rich heritage, glorious past, great traditions and heterogeneous culture, and promote acquisition by the learners at all levels of values that promote responsible citizenship, peace, tolerance, secularism, national integration, social cohesion and mutual respect for all religions, as well as universal values that help develop global citizenship and sustainable development”

   How can mutual respect for all religions can be created  by making Yoga as an integral part of the curriculum and daily routine.?
                                                                                                   Paulraj Samuel

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