Religious texts to be included in Haryana school curriculum

Chandigarh: Texts from the holy books of various religions will be incorporated in the curriculum of government schools in Haryana from this month, a minister said on Sunday. The subject of moral education which includes religious texts from 'Bhagavad Gita' (Hindu religion), 'Quran' (Islam), the 'Bible' (Christianity) and 'Guru Granth Sahib' (Sikhism) will be introduced at a programme to be held in the Kurukshetra University auditorium on July 5. Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma said moral education would be introduced as a subject for students from class six to class 12. "All religions focus on character building. Texts such as Bhagavad Gita, Quran, the Bible and Guru Granth Sahib have been incorporated in the curriculum. Different textbooks would be prescribed for each class," Sharma said in a statement. "The state government has prepared the curriculum in collaboration with social organisations and educationists." Sharma held a meeting with senior officials of education and allied departments regarding preparations for the introduction of the subject on Saturday. The Haryana government had faced criticism last year when it announced to include texts from the 'Bhagavad Gita' in school curriculum. The opposition Congress termed it an attempt to saffronise education. The event to launch the texts in school curriculum will be attended by Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki, Himachal Pradesh Governor Acharya Dev Vrat, Gita scholar Swami Gyananand, Acharya Balkrishna from Patanjali Vidyapeeth and ministers from the centre and state government. Haryana has a Bharatiya Janata Party government since October 2014. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar was a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) activist earlier.