Education
I want to know who is Mr Batra: TSR Subramanian
Children should be taught basic values of being selfless, honesty and cleanliness. They must have pride in India just like an American child has in his country.
Dinanath Batra of Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti has caused a sudden stir in the drafting committee currently engaged in evolvoling the new National Education Policy (NEP) under Mr. TSR Subramanian.
Who Dinanath Batra, you ask.
Subramanian has the same question. As per the media reports, Subramanian hardly has a clue what his suggestions are. Taking about the NEP, he asked, “Please explain to me what the word saffronisation means? Does it mean saffron school uniform?”
He further said that the committee has received many suggestions and views, saying, “Some say government schools are not needed, some have suggested why future schools should be without the boundary of classrooms. We have heard everyone. But we cannot go back to gurukul of 2000 years ago. We have to consider the changes country has undergone in the last 70 years.”
“Children should be taught basic values of being selfless, honesty and cleanliness. They must have pride in India just like an American child has in his country. We value Indianness,” he further added.
However, when asked about Batra, he said, “Without being condescending I want to know who is Mr Batra. I have never met him. People keep asking me about him.”
Founder of educational activist organisations Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti, Dinanath Batra stands for a change in UPA-era textbooks and demands Vedic Mathematics, ancient Indian knowledge, spirituality and environment-related principles in Vedas and Upanishadas in the school curriculum. Dinanath is also much against sex-education, though he wants family-education to be included in the curriculum with a complete no to sex education. Last year in September, he was quoted to have said, “The idea is to integrate life lessons with academics. For example, our young people must be taught how to be good mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters. What food to eat as expecting mothers, what books to read.”
Subramanian had earlier said that, “We have met many people and others are welcome to write to us too.” But yet clarifying the allegation that he hasn’t paid heed to few eminent educationists he said, “HRD ministry went out of the way to reach out. We have reached out to people through word of contact. Even now people are coming. We want as many diverse views as possible. They should come to me.”
Assuring that the new policy, coming after 30 years, will have new elements, he said, “There is so much glamour for degrees. We have unemployable graduates. Non-graduates need to be trained in skills so that they become employable.”
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Source: TOI