Yoga in school syllabus: Supreme Court to hear plea on November 7

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear on November 7, a PIL for making Yoga a compulsory subject in school curriculum for all children studying in Classes I to VIII, throughout the country.

The petition filed by Ashwini Upadhyay, of the Delhi unit of BJP, said the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), framed by the Centre in 2005, “specifically says that yoga is core and compulsory subject of the elementary education thus it needs to be given equal status with other subjects” but still it is not being implemented. There are about 20 crore children, throughout the country studying in primary and junior classes and Yoga should be taught to them as a compulsory subject as per National Curriculum Framework 2005, which was notified under Section 7(6) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009, the petition said.

The petitioner submitted that there should be proper implementation of ‘Yoga and Health Education’ at primary and junior level with the object to make the children healthy through ‘Pranayams’ and ‘Asanas’. He said Right to Health is integral part of Right to Life under the Article 21 of the Constitution.