Gandhinagar: The Gujarat Government is going to introduce Bhagavad Gita as a syllabus in High School education from class 6^th to class 12^th  from the academic year 2022-23. Gujarat Education Minister Jitu Vaghani made the announcement in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday during a discussion on budgetary allocations for the education department.

Minister in his address in Assembly said that the decision to introduce the values and principles enshrined in the Bhagavad Gita in school curriculum was in line with the new National Education Policy (NEP) unveiled by the Centre, which advocates the introduction of modern and ancient culture, traditions and knowledge systems so that students feel proud of India’s rich and diverse culture.

Speaking to the media persons, Vaghani said people from all faiths have accepted the moral values and principles outlined in the ancient Hindu scripture. Hence, we have decided to introduce the Bhagavad Gita in the school curriculum for Classes 6 to 12. For students of Classes 6 to 8, the scripture will be introduced in the textbook of ‘Sarvangi Shikshan’ (holistic education). From Classes 9 to 12, it will be introduced in the form of storytelling in the textbook of the first language, he said.

Schools will also organise activities based on the scripture such as prayers, shloka recitation, comprehension, drama, quiz, painting and elocution competitions, he said. Study material such as books and audio-video CDs will be provided to schools by the Government, he added.