|
| Communalism, politics be kept out of education: BJP |
| Press Trust of India / New Delhi Jul 15, 2009, 17:33 IST |
|
BJP today said "communalism and politics" should be kept out of education and urged HRD Ministry to introduce reforms to "humanise" studies and inculcate moral values and cultural pride in students.
Initiating the debate on the demands for grants for the HRD Ministry in the Lok Sabha, former HRD Minister and BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi lashed out at his successor Arjun Singh, alleging that the latter had followed a "communal" agenda and tried to please minorities.
"Your predecessor (Arjun Singh) had introduced communal elements in education, tried to please minorities by establishing schools in areas where minorities live in large numbers. The agenda of education reforms should not be communal," he said.
Joshi said if the objective of education is only political, the reforms will become meaningless.
He demanded that aspects of Indian history and culture be introduced in education so as to inculcate among children moral values and pride in the country's heritage.
Asking the government not to rush with implementation of Yashpal Committee recommendations on education reforms, Joshi said a look into its report revealed that it was prepared in haste, by just changing terms of reference.
Referring to Nalanda and Taxila universities of the past, Joshi said the education in India today too should be attractive for foreign students to come here for studies.
"However, I am in no way asking you to revert back to some old form of education system. I am only asking you to make modern education competitive, yet inculcate cultural values and humanise it," he said.
Asking the HRD Ministry to consider making education innovative, the BJP leader sought a scheme for recognising employment-oriented skills among artisans.
Recalling the Kothari Committee on Educational Reforms, Joshi said no government, be it at the Centre or the states, had taken the recommendations seriously and endeavoured to implement them even four decades after it submitted the report.
Supporting primary education in mother tongue, the BJP leader said the needs of every region, be it Punjab, Rajasthan, Bihar or any other, would be different, and this needed to be catered to.
Seeking to bridge the rich-poor divide through the 'neighbourhood school' scheme, Joshi wanted the government's focus on getting children from all sections of society to study in a school in their neighbourhood.
"The idea behind neighbourhood school scheme is to ensure children from all sections of society get same quality of education and the rich-poor divide is bridged," he said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Read Business news in |  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Advertisements |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Content Guide
