BENGALURU: Schools across the state are likely to see satvik food and value education with a focus on devotion to God through texts from various religions being introduced in moral science classes from the academic year 2023-24.
School Education and Literacy Minister BC Nagesh confirmed this saying that they arrived at this decision after taking inputs from about 50 experts at a high-level round-table conference. The conference aimed at ‘enabling children to adopt good health and values’ and ‘teaching devotion to God’.
He said the round-table conference comprised academicians, heads of institutions and religious leaders and discussed the implementation of value education in schools.
“All the participants at the meeting expressed the opinion that there is an urgent need to implement value education in schools. Opinions were collected from almost everyone who participated in the meeting, both online and offline. Based on the points expressed in this meeting, methods of implementing value education will be discussed and finalised in meetings organised at the departmental level,” he said.
Value edu with lessons from Gita, Quran, Bible
This implies that value education will be implemented in the coming year as a general consensus has been reached at the meeting on the urgency of its introduction. Meanwhile, to ensure that ethics and values were being imparted at every level of education, it was also suggested by the experts that evaluations and tests be scheduled to ensure proper implementation.
The meeting also delved into introducing satvik food in schools. Sources within the education department said the satvik food issue came up due to opposition from some leaders to providing eggs in mid-day meals. Due to recent controversies of including Bhagavad Gita into lessons for children, they also clarified that the devotional and value aspects of the classes would not be limited to only certain religions.
“Lessons from religious texts will be included, only as ways to teach children different values and morals. This will not be limited to the Bhagavad Gita, but also other religious texts like the Quran and Bible,” a source told TNIE.
Other suggestions expressed during the meeting included advice to parents to ensure that mobile phone usage is reduced among children, scheduling a discussion in the assembly on politicians giving priority to value education, etc.