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New Delhi: Sanskrit learners from Ved Vidyalayas will soon get recognition from the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). The first batch, from over 6,000 Ved Vidyalayas, is expected to sit for exam in October 2018.
NIOS is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
The curriculum for classes 10 and 12 Sanskrit will include Bhartiya Jnana Parampara courses with an aim ‘to link Sanskrit with employability and bringing students closer to the ancient Indian past.’
The idea to start formal Vedic education was floated by the Ministry of Human Resource Development in 2016. Ramdev’s Patanjali Yogapeeth had made the proposal of Vedic Education Board in 2016 but was not implemented then.
The course is applicable to any student of 14 years of age who self-certifies that he/she can read and write Sanskrit. The student will be sent to a ‘gurukul’ to attend classes. The NIOS has also prepared Sanskrit textbooks for and the Academic Council has passed 11 courses developed for Sanskrit learners.
The initiation of new courses for Ved Vidyalayas and offering certification to classes 10 and 12 Sanskrit students will help students to reconnect with the Vedic past that seems to be obsolete now, NIOS chairman believes.
“We are unaware of our past, as a result when we hear someone counter Darwin Theory citing Vedic knowledge we laugh it off. But the point is none of us have read the texts. With that ignorance we doubt the claims of how Vedas can make a difference,” NIOS chairman CB Sharma said, referring to MoS HRD Minister Satyapal Singh’s comment discarding Darwin’s theory of evolution.
Earlier this year in Aurangabad, Singh had drawn eyeballs after he said that no one ever has witnessed an ape turning into a man.
“The minister has studied the Vedic texts and then makes claims, but those who hear him and reject it have never read the texts,” Sharma added.
Singh had also said that laws of motion were codified in ‘mantras’ long before the theory was put forward by Issac newton.
“No one ever thought of mainstreaming the Sanskrit learners coming from gurukul, veda pathshala and with this move the students will become eligible to jobs where class 12th is the eligibility criterion. The students face many hurdles in life as they come from underprivileged background,” NIOS chairman said.
Special provisions have been made for Gurukul, Vidyapeeth, Institute/ Educational Unit working in the field of Bharatiya Jnana Parampara, which means these centres run by an NGO which did not have affiliation to a recognized state board, CBSE, CISCE, for secondary and senior secondary level can apply for accredited institution after fulfilling of certain terms and conditions.
The Board has more plans to encourage Sanskrit and it will take them up in its committee meetings.
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