Visakhapatnam: Protests against the Draft National Education Policy-2016 (DNEP) have intensified with an online petition campaign spearheaded by a group of Christian minority institutions in Vizag.
About 15,008 people have signed the online petition marked to the Human Resource Development ministry. “We will submit the hard copy of the online petitions to the HRD ministry in Delhi next week. Representatives of Christian minority schools and some from the Muslim community will join us when the petitions are handed over,” said District Christian Chamber of Commerce and Industry convener Oliver Rayi.
The draft policy hinting at including Sanskrit, Vedic education and yoga in schools, making them mandatory and not exempting minority institutions, has become a matter of concern for minority communities. The petitioners alleged that the policy is indirectly aimed at promoting Hindutva ideology.
Yoga is to be made compulsory and providing facilities for the same would be made mandatory for educational institutions to get recognition and funding.
Besides, Sanskrit and Indian culture are proposed to be made mandatory in the curriculum.
Introduction of moral values is also a veiled attempt to teach one particular religious book in classes, they feel. “The management of several Christian minority schools and colleges had assembled in the city on September 10 to put forth their opinion and suggestions towards the draft as desired by the HRD ministry. Chanting and some postures of yoga are against our belief and faith. We don’t want yoga to be made mandatory in schools,” said Mr Oliver.
The petition says the National Education Policy, 2016, cites Freedom stalwarts G.K. Gokhale, Ram Mohan Roy, Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya and Mahatma Gandhi as having worked for better education, but has ignored leaders of minority communities like Sir Sayed who founded Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College in 1875 and William Carey- founder of the Sirampore University and the inspiration Raja Ram Mohan Roy. Inception of English medium schooling through the missionaries of the West has also not been mentioned in the draft, they say.
“The Government must be sensitive to the pluralistic multi-cultural, multi-religious context of the country, before imposing any centralised system of education for it to be truly inclusive. The authorities of the institutions run by minority communities have also expressed concern over the proposal to bring minority institutions under the ambit of RTE, saying this would divest them of their autonomy and also nullify the rules and beliefs the institutions are founded upon,” Mr Oliver said.
